Elzilaura descended the grand staircase and saw the Queen of Ludin waiting for her at the end of the hall. The monarch led the princess into the balcony. Along the way, she experienced an anxiety attack. What was happening now made her recall what happened the day she was in her home world. All these memories flashed into her head. She nearly falls.
Monandra had to ask. "Are you alright, princess?" Her hand was on Elzilaura's back.
Elzilaura pants as she fights through the panic. Soon, she rises and straightens herself. "I am fine your majesty. Let us proceed. The people are waiting." She forces a smile.
As they entered the balcony, they saw the crowds that have gathered below. Monandra starts to address them. "Peoples from all over the universe, I hereby present to you a princess from Fliska seeking the right to claim her birthright. It is time to witness if she truly is worthy to be the next ruler of her kingdom."
They leave the balcony and proceed to the great hall where the sacred pool is. The guests have settled down and so the Queen marches to the dais and began to chant incantations and blessed the people present in the hall.
"Today we begin the ritual to test who will be the next Queen of Fliska. As our ancestors have decreed, only those of the true noble bloodline can inherit the throne. Thus, this test was made so that the one true heir bears the right to use the power of the gem to its full capacity. Who then is this true successor? Reveal yourself before us."
The princess was at the doorway. She comes forward. Her neckline was exposed revealing the crystal cross worn as a pendant. She goes to the dais where Queen Monandra is.
"I am the true heiress," Elzilaura says. She stops at the edge of the dais.
"I am Elzilaura Coremelle Maurelin Ruleinna, daughter of Azestina, granddaughter of Minemora, and descendant of Maurelin."
"We shall see." The Queen says. She then motions for the princess to go to the sacred pool. At the edge of the pool, she takes off her robes revealing a traditional white gown.
The lady approaches Elzilaura and the former took the cross from the princess' neck. When Queen Monandra held the gem, it would have broken her but because she too is linked to the Sardonyx Square, she can safely wield the crystal cross but not to full capacity.
Holding it in one hand, she raised the gem and it emitted strange burning light. Instantly, a shimmering shield enveloped Elzilaura protecting her from the harmful light. Monandra then narrates to the witnesses.
"In ancient times, the heiress was once separated from the royal family. To identify her from pretenders, the Queen raised the gem and harmful light appeared. All the pretenders perished save for one, the true heiress encased in a glowing crystal shield. Thus, she has been known as Crystal Princess." After a few minutes, the Queen stops the light.
"Congratulations, Elzilaura daughter of Azestina, granddaughter of Minemora, and descendant of Maurelin, the first phase of the testing is complete." The assembly claps.
Queen Monandra placed the Crystal Cross on the lamp. Automatically, the lamp floats above the pool. Then, Elzilaura entered the sacred waters. She lay down and floated calmly. When the cross emitted its brilliant light, she began to sink and disappear from the audience's sight.
Elzilaura sank deeper and deeper until she hit rock bottom. It was so dark there but a light shined and she saw that the "Crystal Cross" was once again set as a pendant on a necklace around her neck. She used it as a lamp to light her path and soon discovered that she was on the ocean floor. She managed to breathe surprisingly and when she tried to find out why she realized she suddenly had gills. Though she still had her pair of legs, her skin when examined very closely had scales. She had turned into a sea creature. She swam further and noticed something move.
When she approached it, she saw the strangest creature, an extremely large shark with tentacles instead of fins. The shark also squirts ink and it was the reason why the area was dark.
In fear, she swam as fast as she could but the creature followed close by. Pretty soon, one of its massive tentacles reached her and grabbed her lower body. She tried to escape by using the power of the cross. The tentacle exploded but it also grew back. All the tentacles now held her tight. As the creature placed her in its mouth, she used the cross to make a barrier bubble which ballooned up suddenly occupying the whole mouth area and pushing the teeth out of its place. All the teeth fell and the creature had to let her go. When her bubble barrier was let loose, she began to focus her energy to create a large ball of fire which eventually killed the monster.
When the monster perished, the blackness faded and water immediately evaporated revealing a desert. She traveled across the desert and finally found an oasis. She drank as much water as she could but still felt thirsty. The more she drank the water, the thirstier she got. When she choked and found it hard to breathe, she used the power of the cross. It seemed as if it wasn't also working. She concentrated hard and then she coughed out large amounts of sand. Soon the oasis faded revealing a huge sand pit. The winds became so strong that she was pushed into the sand pit and it turned out to be quicksand. She decided to limit her movements and slowly managed to work her way out of it.
She went on walking again and found another oasis. She used the power of the cross this time to check if it is a mirage. The image did not fade this time. As she drank the water once again, it began to spin instantly and sprang upward. She was immediately sucked into what seemed to be a cyclone. She was swirling and swirling around together with so many particles within the cyclone. Her skin was bruised when cacti flew by and scratched her arm. Then, she lost consciousness when a piece of driftwood hit her head.
Meanwhile, the people in the great hall saw this as they viewed the sacred pool and thought Elzilaura was going to die. Kanunia cheered for her sister. She advises her sister to wake up and be strong. Use the cross and defeat the hurricane. Monandra then slowly approaches Kanunia.
"I understand your concern for your sister but let her be. She cannot hear you. Even if she can, you must allow her to grow and make decisions on her own. If you notice, she is fearful because she is not given the freedom to make decisions. You have given enough support. Now, let her grow."
Back inside the pool, Elzilaura luckily held on to the cross that revived her. When she regained consciousness, she used the cross to control the hurricane.
Slowly, it turned back into a pool and Elzilaura was left levitating within the bubble caused by the Crystal Cross. Once again, she was having trouble controlling its power. The cross was emitting light beams which hit the pool. Not for long, the pool turned into a huge volcano. As it erupted, the lava fell toward her. Automatically, the bubble shielded her. However, her uncontrolled beams weakened her protective bubble.
As the barrier was about to collapse, she realized the source of her flaw. The power of the cross flowed through her roughly because she was too tense. Her fears were getting the best of her. She was afraid that she might lose control of the crystal cross' power which happened. She begins to meditate.
She slowly releases her tension. When the power flowed well now, she managed to stop the beams to appear. With the aid of the cross, she used an emergency incantation to summon the rain. An intense storm came which dried up the large volcano. The lava emitted turned into a stream of gases that pushed Elzilaura and her new fortified bubble into the sky.
For a moment, she felt as if time had stopped. Outside the bubble, different colors of the rainbow begin to appear. The bubble itself was stationary until it began to shake like a rocket ready for lift-off.
The bubble then sped like a rocket until it reached outer space. The bubble then burst, and she was floating in zero gravity. Suddenly, she was now being sucked into a black hole. She used the cross to seal the black hole but it almost sucked her up. Before she was drawn in, her efforts paid off for the black hole turned into a nebula which also transformed into a portal. She went in and found herself in the court of the royal palace.
At the great hall, the assembly was still watching. Queen Monandra announces the second phase of the trials has been completed successfully. The people clap as they continue to view.