Mikayla remembers the patterned linoleum flooring, the sunlight from the wide window giving it a magical golden glow. The red kitchen cabinets and black marble counter, on one side a flowery ceramic jar with cooking implements poking out of it, and a banged-up wooden block holding kitchen knives and shears sitting atop of it, on the center cabinet wide counter brown-spotted bananas and apples in a fruit bowl. On the other side of the spice rack shelf, they had a coffeemaker perking a fresh pot.
She remembers the gargle and steam from the coffee disposal, and the soft jazz music of Louis Armstrong playing in the distance. The smell of cumin powder, as her father brings it to her nose with a smile before he puts it in the boiling pot of stew. She remembers her childhood home.
"What are you making this time, daddy?" The little Mikayla asks, rubbing the sweet smell of spice out of her nose.
"I'm not sure yet," He says, tapping the wooden spoon against the pot and setting it aside, "should we make up a name for it?" He asks going over to the center counter, where the little girl is perched up on the seat with her feet dangling from left to right.
"YES!" She squeals excitedly, jumping up and down the chair.
"Easy, we don't want you falling and hurting yourself," the man says, giving a small peck on her forehead, his full beard leaving a small prickle on her soft skin.
"What about..?" She begins, her voice finishing in a hum, "the everything soup!" She shouts, ending in fits of laughter.
"Well, not everything is it," the man says, laughing to himself.
"No, daddy. You put everything in," she says, sniffling in a laugh with her small hands, barely a quarter of her face.
"No. I still need a little girl," He growls, lifting the girl and taking her to the pot, her loud laughter echoing across the small apartment.
Mikayla always basks at this moment, when her mind takes her back to it. She tries to remember every bit of the detail from the small apartment she and her father shared, the laughter, the food, the music, and even the thump on the floor from their neighbor Mr. Wilkerson from downstairs, they had always called him Mr. Willy Wonk. The old man always complained about the noise and footsteps, but Mr. Willy Wonka would complain about the steps from a stray cat, that used to visit them from time to time, so they would just dismiss the taps as their daily lives.
She could even remember the smell of aftershave on her father's beard, and wood on his clothes, which seemed to be engrossed from his carpentry work, and if she tried hard enough, her eyes shut hard and her breath held in she could almost hear his laughter that used to engulf her in warm comfort, a comfort she lost at 5 years old when the police came bursting in through their front door, destroying the lovely white door which Mikayla and her dad drew many images of landscapes and animals on. She saw still and frozen as her father got dragged out by two policemen, he screamed her name saying to her all would be fine, as the other two policemen carried her out, landing her in her first orphanage.
The first orphanage she went to was called 'Sunrise Orphan Homes'. She stayed there for two months, just until her father was charged guilty of murder, he swore a thousand times he hadn't committed it but was sentenced to life in prison, leading her to be sent to another orphanage, 'Rose Petals Orphanage' where she stayed for another 2 months before she was sent to another orphanage then another, she had gone to 3 other orphanages jumping from town to town, running from her father's legend and shame, before she finally went to Bay Harbor.
She met her friends in Bay Harbor, the twins with matching white hair and amber eyes. They always sat alone talking to no one only their quiet murmurers heard, and no one dared to talk to them. Then there was the boy with soft brown curls and pure blue eyes, he always had a smile on his face, it was strange to see a kid with such a smile in an orphanage. He was loved by all the guardians and admired by all the kids in the orphanage.
They weren't friends at first, of course, they were only each other's roommates. They lived for a while being in each other's presence but not existing together, the three first started being friends after the two boys found a liking to each other and started spending every splitting second together, but she and they would have never been friends if it wasn't for the school trip where Olivia went missing and she found her curled up in a ball shaking with sobs. She brought her back to the camp, where the trio had invited her to eat with them at lunch and they were inseparable from then on.
Mikayla always considered them as her family, she never had thought to be separated from any of them, until these past couple of days. Leaving Noah in the western kingdom, it had caused a Crack in their friendship, they hadn't fought before, especially since the death of their friend. She felt that crack will now widen with the gift she received from the western king.
She clasped the ring box shut, the sight of the dragon ring flipping the last piece of chicken breast she had in her stomach. She felt she was going to be sick if she didn't leave the room, stumbling out of her chair she got up leaving for her room upstairs. She didn't know how she got there so fast, she only remembers excusing the guard in her room before falling to the white carpet with her knees. She stays there for a while, her eyes trailing out the window to the clear landscape outside, not looking.
**********
Zuba lands on the green grass of the forest in the western kingdom. They had headed west after the mist seemed to be growing denser and denser as they headed north.
They were now in the middle of the forest, feeling out of breath from the cloud and the unwelcome encounter they had with the eclairs. The little prince lands on the ground petting the winged creature as he does, he thanks him and says good work before he looks around them to what appears as miles and miles of trees all around them.
"Where are we?" He hears his friend say with a strained voice, his hearing aid suddenly working after leaving the cloud mist, but he still changed the batteries for comfort.
"I'm not sure, be we are close to a town, I saw it as we flew in," He says, pointing to their backs, "we could go there and look for some help, or food and water," He says with a slow shrug.
"When do you think she will wake up?" Craig says, looking over at the sleeping figure of Eirene.
"I don't know," the little prince says, limping over to the resting winged creature, "but you stay here and look after each other, I will be back with some help," the little prince says pulling out his bag and slinging it over his head, the small glean of the light blade, still wrapped around his arm, is seen as his shirt lifts to his elbow.
"How long do you think that will last?" Craig asks, looking at the light blade.
"I'm not sure," the little prince says, stretching out his hand, causing the light sword to stretch out with him. He swings the sword around, looking at it carefully, "but I've never had a sword like this before that's so light, no pun intended, and the balance is amazing. Sharp too" He says, looking at the white light blade, "really sharp"
"Careful, don't cut yourself trying to kiss it," Craig says with a small smile, earning an eye roll from his friend.
"I'll try to come back before night falls," He says walking towards the small town.
"Try not to elope with the sword!" Craig calls out, while the prince turns, walking backward, with both his middle fingers out to the ginger.
The prince shortly arrived at the small town he saw, as they flew over. He went into town asking the locals for what he needed, the grocery shop and a pharmacy. He was led to the local doctor's office, where he found a man with white long hair, to his shoulders, and a white full beard, sporting a small circular glass. The little prince asked the man for help with his friends in the forest and the man, with the most perfect teeth and a gentle smile, quickly took his supply bag and went with him.
They first went to the grocery shop and bought water and food, also new clothes for their worn out and torn clothes. They left shortly after, their pace quickening by the second.
"Thank you, for coming all this way," the little prince says to the doctor, he looks down to the crunch between his shoulder, "and for this too, it's helped a lot"
"That's my job" the man replies, his perfect smile sending comfort to the boy.
"I hope I didn't take you away from your patients," the little prince says.
"Oh no, I do round checkups every time. Besides doctor Spencer's shift is.." he pauses, raising his arms to look at his watch, "half hour ago. she will do just fine without me"
"Oh. That's a relief" the boy says as they make their way to the small clearing where his friends are.
"Oh, my" the doctor exclaims, eyes bulging at the sight of the creature, but stays perfectly still.
"It's alright, he is a friend," the boy says, gently pushing the doctor over.
"Arthur is that you?" Craig asks, his voice so quiet and weak.
"Yes, it is me!" The little prince says, running over to his friend, "sorry I took so long"
"Eirene has been talking in her sleep, but I can't understand what she is saying," he says, looking over to the girl, still sleeping on Zuba's head of fur.
"It's alright, I brought help," Arthur says, looking over to the doctor, and slowly walking over to them. The little prince goes over to the man pulling him by his arm, until he stands by the injured pale boy, "this is.." The little prince stops, looking over at the man with a sheepish smile.
"Oh. Dr. Barry Snow," the man replies, his smile now coming back to his face, "but everyone calls me snow,"
"Okay, snowman. Nice to meet you," Craig says, extending his bloody hands to the man, then quickly takes it back, rubbing it on his more bloody shorts before he extends it again, "Let's skip the handshake," he says, taking his hand back, earning a small nod from the man.
"Do you think it's wise annoying the man that came to save your life?" The little prince asks his friend.
"No, it's fine, I find him quite amusing," the man says with a small smile, putting on his disposable gloves from his pockets.
"Well, you are the first," the little prince says, earning a small kick from his friend.
"Ow!" The tall boy screams out, from the sudden bolt of pain in his leg.
"Now, let's take a look at that," the doctor says, examining the boy's foot, "what caused this?" He asks, taking out his gauze from his bag and running the bottled water on the exposed wound, cleaning the dirt and blood, that sends the boy into another shilling scream before his friend clasps him on his mouth.
"The eclairs," the little prince replies, which causes the doctor to freeze and look at the boy with a raised eyebrow.
"They seem to be a lot these days," the doctor remarks, going back to cleaning his wound, "just the other day, they attacked a man and his little boy in their home,"
"When was this?" the little prince asks, his friend's screams muffled by his hand, but he screams louder upon tasting the dry blood of his friend's palm.
"Just three days ago," the doctor replies, going over to his bag to bring out the clean towel to dry the wound.
"At the lake house?" the little boy asks, removing his hand from his friend's mouth.
"UGH!" The tall boy screams out, spitting the taste of his friend's hand from his mouth.
"Yes, how did you know?" The doctor asks, tightly wrapping the leg in a clean bandage.
"We were there three days ago. We found the lake house and saw the blood, so we tried to take shelter in the house, but that's when the eclair attacked us," the little prince says, "but our friend, she's not here now, she killed the eclair and then we stayed in that house for a day,"
"Yes, we lost two good men that day," the doctor says, finishing off with the bandage.
"I'm sorry to hear that," the little prince says, earning a grateful smile from the man.
"And what happened to her?" The man asks, going over to the sleeping figure of the girl.
"We are not sure, she was fighting with the eclairs and she killed one. It disappeared into the smoke but then she just fainted, we looked for a wound or anything and we found none," the little prince says, following along with the doctor.
"She seems to be in good condition," the man says, pulling up her eyelid and flashing light on her pure blue eyes.
"Then what's wrong with her?" The little prince asks, looking over at his friend with the same look of concern.
"She might just need to rest," the doctor replies, putting all his materials back in his bag, "if you want, I have a spare room back at the clinic, you can rest there,"
"Thank you, doctor. But our big friend here will attract unwanted attention," He says, patting Zuba's back.
"Well, you can't stay here," He says, looking around the small clearing, "my home is not too far from here, you could stay there for as long as you need," He says with the same warming smile.
"Uh, well.." The little prince begins to say but is cut with his friend.
"Oh, that would be amazing. Thank you, snow," his friend cuts in, a bright smile mirroring the man.
**********
Queen Clarissa grew up next to her big brother, the future king of the northern kingdom. They grew up playing and bickering, every day a new adventure for the northern royal siblings.
They didn't always get along though, he hated her for being a baby sister, other than a baby brother, and she hated him for wanting her to be a boy. She tried at first, despising everything a girl should like, and admiring everything a boy would. She denied her pink dolls and basked in the dirt and fighting, she was the best fighter there was, second only to her brother.
"You can beat her billy!" Screamed a boy, not older than 3, to the boy opposite her in the fighting ring.
Clarissa silenced the constant chatter of the dozen boys, ranging from age 5 to 15, out of her mind. She took a deep breath, closing her eyes to focus on one thing, the 15-year-old boy with mirroring white hair and amber-gold eyes studying her every move. He haven't said a thing since the 8-year-old boy, across her on the ring, declared a match with her, scoffing at her when she was doing pull-ups on the monkey rings at the playground.
She had to crank her neck up to look at him, even with the distance between them, in three years she would be as tall as him, for a 5-year-old that seemed like a long time, but Clarissa knew many things about patience. She looked at his stance, with his arms swinging to the side, and jumping up and down, like his nose he had a crooked smile on his face. She looked down at his feet, she had noticed the slight pain on his left ankle, and when she looked up he was already charging at her.
Clarissa jumped to the left avoiding him. She swing with her feet hitting him square on the head, he grabbed her by the ankles and she lost her foot falling to the ground. He released her feet with a thump, she kicked at his left ankle causing him to kneel crying out in pain. Clarissa rose to her feet kneeling him to his nose, he fell back from the impact, and before he knew it she was on top of him throwing one punch to the next.
Billy pushes her to the side, rolling her to be on top of her. He gives her a bloody smile, before he punches her across the face, her head shoots to the side, spitting blood before she looks back with a bloody smile of her own. She punches at his throat, he stands up choking on air. Clarissa rises to the ground, swinging with her feet to kick him in the jaw, knocking him over. He rises for a second before she jumps on him, her knees meeting his chest, they fall to the ground with her holding him down.
She throws him punches from left to right, He was almost drowning in his blood when the bell rang, ending their fight. Clarissa stopped with her fist raised, her face as cold as her hair. She rose to her feet backing away to meet the eyes of the dozen boys, rooting for her downfall just moments ago, now filled with a mixture of shock and admiration.
She looks around her, wiping with the hand wrap wrapped around her hands, now bloody with both hers and Billy's blood. She breathes out as they erupt into cheers, basking in the praise she looks around her before her eyes fall on her brother, his warm smile rising hers.
She was knocked to the ground, cracking her nose, before she realized her opponent standing above her with blazing eyes, that crooked smile no more.
"Why don't you run to your mommy? Girls should be in a kitchen! You shouldn't be here!" The boy screams at the girl lying on the ground, his face building into beet red, the boys around the ring back away a step or two, either from his combustion voice or afraid another second and he might blow.
"Why?" A voice asks, everyone's attention going to the boy with white hair.
"Prince Christopher," the boy says, bowing to meet the royal.
"Afraid she will beat you Billy?" the future king says, slowly walking over to the boy, more red building on his already impossibly red face.
"It's embarrassing to have a girl here!" He almost screams out, looking up to see the boy with white hair, "my prince," he composes himself, bowing down further.
"What's embarrassing is you!" The prince calls out, louder this time, sending an air of stilling in the gym, "attacking after the bell rang when you know the fight is over, and she is of no threat," billy bows further down, his trembles showing on the strands of his scattered blonde hair, "you will apologize to our champion fighter," the prince says, giving a sudden waft of warmth to the princess, she starts beaming with joy, the pain from her nose forgotten to her.
"But I am the champion fighter!" Billy screams out, backing away as feeling punched in the face.
"What you are is a bully! Apologize!" The future king says, nodding over to his beaming sister.
Billy stammers with his words, looking over the crowd he finds only accusing eyes. His eyes finally land on his opponent, with her bloody smile. "I apologize" he manages out between his teeth.
"Be careful boy, she might be your opponent now, but she is still the crowned princess Clarissa Mathedor of the north. You will show her respect" the prince says, urging for another apology.
"I'm sorry, princess Clarissa," the boy says, bowing this time.
"Thank you for the apology. I look forward to fighting with you, you were a good opponent," the future queen says, with her hands outstretched to the boy for a handshake.
Billy looks at her small hands wrapped in white hand wrap, now streaked with red and black from their fight, he scoffs before he walks out leaving her hand outstretched. The prince takes her hand, giving her a firm shake, "congratulations, you are now the champion fighter," He declares, earning another beaming smile from the girl, "of the 3rd level," He adds, earning an eye roll from the girl.
The crowd runs into the small ring, cheering for their new champion, as the king lifts her by the shoulders setting her on his shoulder. "Hurry for the new champion!" He declares, earning another burst of cheers and whistles from the boys gathered around.
Princess Clarissa stayed the champion of the 3rd level for 5 years more until she was qualified to fight for the 2nd level champion. She won the title on the day of her birthday.
Queen Clarissa was the first woman fighter in their kingdom, and she would not be the last, after the glorious success of the princess, she opened up many doors for proceeding female fighters.
she and Her brother became inseparable, she would be his most trusted advisor and friend, and she would help him with his future wife, Queen Delilah Matador. She would be the one to advise him to send his children to earth at the time of the great war
"Brother, you might be scared, but this is all for the better. They will be safer there, where no one will know of their true identity, and they can come back after this war," she says, explaining to the man standing, facing away from her by the fire.
"I don't know, Clari," He says, turning to show his tear-streaked face, "I don't know if I can send them away, just like that,"
"You are not sending them away," she says, holding onto both his shoulders, "you are keeping them safe, by hiding them. After the incident with price Jeremiah, we can't afford to keep them here," she says, sending him in a sob.
The royal siblings stand there for a while, sobbing while in each other's embrace before they join the royal queen in the twins' bedroom. The queen sits with her two children, basking in their presence, hugging their warmth.
"What happened next, mommy?" The girl asks, looking up at her mother with innocent eyes.
"And then, a big ugly ogre comes and kidnaps the girl!" Roars the little boy, standing up to his feet with his hands out, rocking the bed with his small weight, "so the king, fights and kills the creature saving his queen from that monster,"
"Mommy can take care of herself!" The little girl screams, standing up next to her brother.
"Dad can take care of her too!" He screams back, both ending in fits of deafening screams.
"Okay. Okay. That's enough," the queen calls out, gently taking both her twins to sit down. "You are both right. But I prefer the former" she says pinching the boy's nose, while the girl pokes out her tongue at him.
"Mommy is the strongest and prettiest queen of all the north. She is not like the other queens," she declares, jumping to hug her mother with jet-black hair.
"Mommy, why don't you have the same hair as us?" The boy suddenly asks, touching her long silky hair.
"Because I chose to," the queen replies, tucking the escaped strand of hair behind her ears, "I chose to keep my jet-black hair to remember where I came from and my origins," she says, her eyes jumping from one twin to the next, "as you should remember yours," she says, reaching for her pockets and sporting two necklaces, handing them to the twins, "you shall wear this and remember where you come from, even if you are alone this should give you comfort, comfort in knowing your mommy and daddy are there to protect you," she says, putting each necklace on both twins.
"I can protect myself!" The boy calls out, a wide smile on his face.
"Well then big boy, what about taking care of your little sister?" The king asks, walking in with his sister close ahead.
"I guess I can do that too," the prince shrugs, turning his attention to the new thing around his neck.
"I can take care of myself too," the girl mutters, turning the necklace around her neck, and inspecting its details.
"Of course, you can, but you need to protect your brother too," her father walks in, sitting beside his daughter.
"Clari, please join us," the queen calls over the woman standing by the door, who shakes her head in response.
"I'd rather see you here," she says, her silent tears not visible in the dim light. Clarissa, not knowing that would be the last time she would see the family together, left after a few moments tending to the preparations with the army, for the great war that would leave its mark for centuries to come.
Queen Clarissa now sits at the table, with the small black box in her hands. The golden heart necklace, with diamond detail and flowery prints, is illuminated in the small black box. She looks over to her right, seeing her niece's gaze fixed on another girl to her left, she follows her gaze to see the retreating figure of the brunette. She goes back to her niece to see her standing up, leaving in the opposite direction to her friend. Prince Cameron stands next, following the blond girl.
"Well, queen Clarissa. I guess it's just you and me now" the king says, lying back in his chair, "Why don't we talk about that... peace treaty," he says, pausing on the word peace.
**********
The man opens the door with a squeak, taking off his shoes before he steps inside. The two boys follow suit, the little prince setting his friend down before removing his shoes. The man continues looking at the boys with a small smile his small eyes falling smaller, seeing their respect towards his home with gratitude.
"Thank you again, Dr. Barry. For inviting us into your home" the little prince asks pulling up his friend with one hand and hanging pivot on his crunch with the other.
"Yes, snow. You have done us a great deal" the tall boy says, the setting sun bringing fire to his head.
They suddenly hear a bark coming from outside, stopping them in their tracks. The man runs outside, hastily slipping on his shoes, murmuring under his breath "oh that darn, dog"
The two boys turn on their feet peeking outside the door, careful not to leave the house on their bare feet. They see their winged friend backing away, his neck backed away with him. He leaves the door frame perspective slowly, as Dr snow runs up to them waving his hands at the figure following after the creature. Zuba slowly backs away as a brown figure slowly walks into the frame, following the pace of the giant creature. The brown dog continues to bark at the creature, its ears back and baring its teeth.
"RUFUS! stop that!" The man screams at the dog reaching him, and pulling him by his collar, "I'm sorry boys, please tell your friend not to worry" he says gesturing over to the wide-eyed Zuba.
"You have a dog?" Craig calls out to the doctor, as his friend assures the nervous creature.
"It's not mine, it belongs to the boy," Dr. Barry says, gently petting the dog, its eyes still burrowed on the giant creature.
"RUFUS!" A voice suddenly calls out from the woods.
"That's him," the man says before whistling back to the boy. Moments later, the little boy with blonde hair and blue eyes runs out of the trees joining the man and his dog.
"Rufus! Don't just run away like that!" The boy scolds, still blind to the big guest next to them.
"Frankie, say hello to our guests," the man says, pointing over to the creature and the two boys by the door.
The little boy's eyes bulge open with the sight before him, "sn..sn..sn" He stammers, out suddenly thirsty for water.
"It's okay Frankie, they are friends" the doctor encourages as the creature lies on the ground, meeting with the eye levels of the little boy.
Frankie slowly walks over to the giant, his hands out in front of him. "Hello, Mr lion..and eagle," He says, slowly walking over to the winged creature. As he is inches away from the giant, Zuba licks the boy's small hands.
"MR. SNOW! HE LIKES ME! HE LIKES ME!" The little boy jumps up and down, his face beaming with smiles that almost absorb the ray of light hitting his face, Rufus howling along with his cheers.
"Let's have supper, I bet you boys are hungry," Dr. Barry says with a smile, walking the dog inside the house.
The little prince sets Craig down on the sofa as doctor Barry leaves to bring the sleeping girl inside. The man stops for a moment at the doorway taking off his shoes, then he looks at the bare feet of the girl, cracking his head to the side.
"She doesn't wear shoes, she barely steps on the ground, she just flies and floats around" Craig explains, earning another warm smile from the doctor. The little prince follows the doctor to the back as Craig stays on the couch.
"Is he your friend? Like me and Rufus?" The little boy says as he walks into the room, jumping from one foot to the other.
"I suppose, are you and Rufus good friends?" Craig asks, earning a very enthusiastic head nod from the little boy.
"Best of friends! Me, him, and daddy" He says, his little smile dropping a little, "daddy's not here now,"
"Where is he?" Craig asks.
"With the eclairs," the little boy says, his face now down to a frown.
"You were the ones on the lake house?" The little prince asks, earning a small nod from little Frankie,
"The eclairs took my daddy and Mr. Hurley," he says, with a quiet voice.
"I'm sorry, come here," Craig says, urging the boy over to a warm embrace, "Frankie, I think I owe you a lasagna and 2 dozen of...juice," He says with a smile, gently patting on the boy's soft golden hair.
**********
"Olivetti!" The little girl with white hair hears from a distance, she looks over to see her brother waving her over.
"What?!" She calls back, agitated by his constant calling and waving. The uneasiness in her she had since this morning didn't help either.
The boy waves at her as he does a spin on his friend's borrowed skateboard, he wobbles for a second before he stands straight again, the girl looks away from her twin and then goes back to her own game (hopscotch), eyes following the pink shoes of the blonde girl like a hawk, missing the gleaming bright smile from the boy.
"Olivetti!" He screams again, but this time the girl doesn't look at him, she is too focused on her friend who stepped on a line and is swearing on her life she didn't.
"I didn't step on the line! It's just from how you saw my foot, you thought I stepped on the line!" The girl almost shrieks, her face going beet red. She was annoyed with how red her face got, she was annoyed with the constant ringing in her head that day.
"The line is smudged!" The little girl with white hair screams back, matching her tone with the girl.
"It was smudged before!" The girl says with a pout, almost jumping out of her shoes.
"No, it wasn't!" The girl with white hair says, crossing her arm over her chest.
"Yes, it was," the girl says, mirroring the princess.
"Ugh! Your such a baby!" The girl with white hair says, rolling her eyes and walking away from the game.
Olivia walks back to the front gate of the orphanage, suddenly feeling suffocated. She looks around her before she squeezes through the vertical railings of the front door, heading for anywhere but here. She walks around town for a while, passing through the main town park, where she named almost every flower in there, (she might have named almost all Mikayla, but that's okay). Then she walked around until she reached 'Cherry-pop cafe', she didn't know it now but in 2 years the four of them, (her twin and her two friends) would come here after running away from the orphanage after Mrs. Shirley refused to let them watch cartoons.
Olivia froze at the storefront, mesmerized by the delicacy served and the inside of this small Cafe. She closed her eyes taking a big breath in, letting the delicious scent of vanilla and caramel travel through her windpipes. The orphanage had pastry and cake days only on birthdays and every other Saturday, so seeing people eat cake on a Wednesday proved to be difficult for her innocent mind.
She was ogling at the fresh-out donuts, and the many colors and many decors when she spotted Mrs. Dickerson looking back at her through the glass. The small woman smiled, her cheeks rising to her eyes. The woman waved at her, and the girl waved back.
Olivia was now walking around the cafe, circling back to the orphanage, that strange ring from this morning fading slowly, one donut in her hand and the other hand gliding along the stores. She had eaten the strawberry frosting and now she had moved on to the donut part, she wouldn't have looked over if she hadn't felt a warmth on her other hand, and the sudden stealth of that ring. The girl turned to see the small post office, she pulled her hand back suddenly missing the strange warmth, then suddenly the donut was on the ground, a dinner for the lucky stray cat passing through here later on. She placed both hands on the store windows, the grease from the pastry leaving her fingerprints on the store, she closed her eyes bringing her forehead to the window and she listened and felt for the warmth, she felt for the light.
"Your majesty, princess" she hears a voice say, jolting her awake from the strange sensation. She hadn't heard that said to her in a long time, not like how the others here say it, like some sort of flattery then it having any meaning, but this was different now, this person was calling to her because she knew she was a princess.
"Yes?" She breathes out, suddenly tired from her long journey.
"I believe I have a package for you," she says, handing her two letters, bowing as she does so.
The girl takes the letters from the woman, and dashes away to the orphanage, she doesn't look back when she hears the woman say there will be more or when she says it's from her parents, for she already knew all that.
She sprints to the orphanage, squeezing inside the vertical bars, then up the stairs until she's inside her brother's room, the letter out in display, the tremble in her knees, and the out-of-breath girl beaming with light.
It had been almost a year since they left the northern kingdom and with it Ladon. They hadn't talked with their parents since that time, this was their first letter and it will not be their last. Olivia kept getting those sudden rings every time there was a letter, and they would both sneak out to bring the letters with them, running hand in hand.
The letters kept coming for years after that, there were no specific days that they would reach them, sometimes the letters would come a week from their birthday, but wishing them a happy birthday nevertheless. The letters stopped just three months before the day her brother would be hit by the car.
Olivia cried for weeks holding on to the letter to her heart, following her brother's death, the letter she now finds in the black box in front of her. This letter was not the letter wishing them a happy birthday or the one with a poem written by their mother, not even the one where they promise they will visit them in the days to come. This was the letter she received about her parent's death, this was the letter she had kept from her brother, the very letter she buried under all her belongings, praying and wishing every day it would disappear and not have existed.
The boy never heard the news of his parent's death, he disappear from the face of the earth thinking his parents just stopped writing to them, he thought his parents might have had another baby, maybe a baby boy and they didn't need them anymore, he died thinking his parents didn't love him anymore when they died with their last thought being their twins would be safe and smiling for that.
Olivia woke from her daze when she hears her friend stumble out of the room, excusing herself to go to the bathroom. She hadn't told anyone what she did, she didn't know if this meant he will tell them, and they will hate her for being so selfish and for being so stupid, she didn't know.
Before she knew it, she too was leaving out the door, but she kept quiet, not trusting her voice to be stable. She almost sprints across the hall, her heels being the only sound she heard before she hears the prince calling for her.
"Olivetti!" He says, running up to her to stand before her, stopping her in her tracks with her head down. "Are you okay?" He says, going to grab her shoulders when she almost jumps away from him.
"Don't," is all she says, looking at him with tear-stroked eyes, before leaving him there.
The prince didn't say anything to her, he only let her go because he knew there was nothing he could say to make her feel better, for he knew those tears weren't for him. He took a big sigh, exasperated with the day, before disappearing in thin air.
"You are coming with me," the prince says to the boy lying on the ground, facing the sky, his sketch materials scattered around him.
"Where?" The boy asks, not affected by the sudden presence of the prince.
"My brother is planning something, and I can't figure out what. He gave them some gift, and they all were in distress, I don't know what to do," the prince explains, almost pleading with the boy.
"So? What do you want me to do about it?" The boy asks, now standing up to brush off the grass from his black jeans and blue shirt.
"What is that supposed to mean?" The prince asks, hissing foully at the calm boy.
"What do you want me to do about it?" The boy asks, carelessly brushing out his soft curls.
"Help your friends," the prince says, in a matter of factually, earning an eye roll from the boy.
"You said it yourself, if they were my friends they would have not left without me," the boy says, walking away from the confused prince, stepping over his painting on the ground as he does.
The prince stands frozen as the boy leaves, angrier than shocked by what the boy said. He feels his anger rise in him, building from his feet to the tip of his hair stands, before he storms after the boy. He finds him, coming back to the garden, solely focused on a small beaker of water in his hand. The prince didn't recognize the slight difference in his clothing, or the paint all over his shirt before he punched him across his face.
"What the heck, man?" The boy says, looking over to the fuming prince standing above him.
"You are coming with me," the prince says, grabbing onto the boy's paint-streaked, now red, shirt collar, "whether you like it or not," He says, his face inches away from the bloody boy.
"What are you on about?" The boy says, fighting at the hands on his collar shirt, he struggles for a moment before the prince releases him.
Noah backs away from the prince, his bloody hands leaving a mark on the white ceramic tiles. Noah looks around him feeling the cold of the floor dashing through his arm, he looks at the unfamiliar room, with white walls and white floors, the white-to-gold decor illuminating the big luxurious bedroom.
"Where is this?" The boy asks, drops of blood disappearing to his shirt.
Suddenly he hears water running from the door beside the white fluffy bed, before the girl with blond, almost white, hair walks out, her shock mirroring his.
"Oli?" Noah choked out, a wide grin escaping his lips, sending a shilling pain from the punch earlier.
"Oh my god! NOAH!" The girl almost screams out, running over to the bloody boy, "what happened to you?" she asks looking at the small gash on his nose.
"Oh, he just.." Noah begins, turning as he points back to the now-gone prince behind him, "well, where did he go?" He asks more to himself before he looks back at the girl, solely focused on his wound. The girl turns to the warm blue eyes of the boy, staring down at her with so much fondness, causing her to drop her hands, "I missed you" the boy says, catching her hands mid-fall.
"Sit down I'll go get you something," she says, pulling her arm away as she leaves for the bathroom door, very conscious of the pair of eyes behind her.
**********
"So you are telling me, my brother tried to kill you?" Noah asks, eyes bulging at the girl, earning him a small nod, "is it, Amadeus?" He asks again earning another nod from the girl, "oli I'm so sorry, if I had known, I would never have let that happen," He says, his eyes jumping from her left eye to the right, almost gleaming like the sea.
"You didn't know?" The girl asks quietly, gently rubbing at her arms.
"Of course, I didn't know!" The boy almost screams out, standing up to join the girl, "I would never let anything bad happen to you,"
"Then why did you say nothing when those men were kidnapping me all those times?" Olivia says, almost shocked by her bold question that shocks the boy still.
Noah releases a deep breath, rubbing at his head before he looks up meeting her stoic face. "I never meant for it to go that long. You and I were living in hiding. Every indication of your powers gave a great threat to your safety. You stopped using your light, and that helped greatly in your hiding, but your kingdom and Ladon needed you too. You are destined for great things oli, we just wanted to bring you home before the other kingdoms know where you were, attracting the least amount of attention from them too,"
"So you planned this with prince Cameron?" She asks, crossing her arms over her chest, earning a nod from the boy, "you couldn't have told me this, instead of scaring me like that for all that time?!" She screams out, her arms flying in exhaustion.
"I couldn't," the boy says, standing up with his arms out, pointing to his chest, "I wanted to! But the less you knew the better, you were out of the radar and we wanted it that way. I am so sorry about those days, I wish it could have happened differently but we didn't know how," He explains, his eyes solely focused on her.
"Being kidnapped by those men, those men I didn't know" she begins, shaking her head at every word.
"I'm so sorry," He says, "I tried joining you on the last one, but that evoked so much energy from you that it ended up being the very thing we tried so hard to stop, because after that day the western king knew you had the light, and it was strong,"
"How did he know?"
"He had you followed by his crows. That's why we had to kidnap you, everytime we took you, the crow would suddenly lose sight of you and it would spend hours searching for you in town," Noah says, "the trick was to take you like you just disappear out of nowhere. Then at the last...time, I don't know how but the crow had followed us to the warehouse, then the king saw you use your light and next thing we know he had ordered the prince to bring you to him"
"Wait, who was trying to bring me here unnoticed, in the first place?" she asks, her head tilting to the side.
"Me, prince Cameron and Eirene," He replies.
"Who is Eirene?" She asks with scrunched eyebrows.
"She is a guardian," he replies, seeing the confusion on the girl he continues "A guardian is like mother nature here, there are five guardians, Cordelia, guardian of the day, and Althea, guardian of the night. Bellona is the guardian of the creatures of the skies, land, and seas. And Dalia, guardian of the ground and skies. Then finally, Eirene, guardian of magic and gifts, is your godmother"
"My godmother?" She asks, trying to remember any traces of her in her mind.
"Yes. You can't remember her, because she was banished from the central world, that's where guardians live, and when she was banished the other guardians took away every memory the people had of her,"
"Then how come you know her?"
"She restored my memory when the prince introduced me to her,"
"Why was she banished?"
"That she doesn't know herself, or she chose not to tell us," He says with a small shrug, "her magic was of big help in concealing your kidnap from those crows, and having you forget of the incident,"
"But I didn't forget, I remember it very well,"
"That's another thing I'm confused about,"
"What I'm confused about is, with all that magic and strength you all had, how come you did it so many times?" she asks, but what she wanted to ask was 'how come you failed so many times?'
"Because, suddenly you would go into this light zone and you would knock over everyone until the crow pricks you on the neck taking you into an unconscious state, and we couldn't take you unconscious, because that would kill you," He explains, sitting down on the couch.
"So you tried another day?" She asks, earning a nod from the boy.
"Yes, we tried. Then for some reason, that we could never figure out, you would go avatar mode and you would attack everyone," He says, looking at the gold detail on the white ceramic tile, missing the clenched jaw from the princess, "do you remember?" He asks her, looking up to see her shaking her head slowly.
They talk for a while, about their then and who they are now. She tells him about her position as a queen and he tells her about his rightful spot as the heir, being the next true son of the king and queen, unlike his brothers before him. She tells him about her family, those she didn't meet, and those she has yet to meet. He tells her about his family, the chaos, and the loneliness.
She was telling him about her fear of ruling the kingdom on her own when he cuts in, "Let's get married then" he says, looking at her with desperate eyes.
'What?" She says, not trusting her ears
"Marry me oli" he pleads standing up from the sofa while dropping the cloth from his cracked lips, "marry and let's join our two kingdoms, we will be as strong as ever,"
"But marriage between our kingdoms, the west kingdom will surely object,"
"We will keep it a secret until we marry, after that not even they can be a threat to us,"
"With our alliance, the southern kingdom will rise from perishing, and we, together will stand as the greatest kingdom in all the 4 kingdoms," he says, with the same sparkle he had in his eyes when he set firecrackers in their math teachers car in 7th grade.
That was when she looked at her best friend. she looked at the boy that carried her home on his back when she had fallen and scraped her knee from her bike she got for her 6th birthday, she had cried all the way and he kept making a joke trying to get her to laugh. She thought of the boy that punched Jason from 2nd grade in the face after he called her princess dress ugly, 'you are the prettiest princess in the world' was what he said, standing before her by the swing, a daisy flower, he got from the school garden, in his hands. She thought of the boy that taught her skating, she thought of the boy that read her stories when she was out from the flu, she thought of the boy that showed up at the cinema, after Chris, her 3-month-long crush stood her up for Christi Gilbert the class top student, (maybe he liked her because she had his name in her name). She saw the boy with brown locks, that bounced with every movement, with blue eyes that reflect the stars in the sky, that always smelled like spring, and freshly cut grass. She saw him as he is and she loved him, he was her best friend, he was her love and now he will be her king.
"Yes," she replies, looking at all his pasts and all his futures, falling in love with all of them, "yes I will marry you, Noah Caballero, yes I will be your queen and rule our kingdoms side by side," she says looking at his bright smile and crinkly eyes, fluttering butterflies inside her stomach, "forever" she finishes as he closes in, placing his lips on hers.