MARINA'S POV:
"So, any ideas?" I inquired, my gaze fixed on Dristan.
"Well, I propose we embark on a quest to uncover the mysteries of Mother Madelyn!" His suggestion came accompanied by a charming smile. At least he carried himself as a true gentleman. Though I had to admit, I'd developed a slight crush on him. I know, I know, he's my brother, but just take a look at him—so dashingly handsome, and besides...
"Marina, you can't entertain those thoughts, alright?" Catherine's voice came in hushed tones, her eyes stern.
"What?"
"Whatever's going through your mind, just put a stop to it, okay?" She rolled her eyes, thankfully keeping her voice down.
"Come on, Catherine, don't mess with my head right now," I snapped, still speaking in a whisper.
"It's not my fault, Marina. This Vertis connection doesn't seem to work the same way with you guys. Practically, I can pick up on your thoughts," she admitted.
"All the time?" I asked in surprise. I couldn't help but feel a twinge of shock. What might I have been thinking, and she...
"No, not all the time. It's like the closer we are, the louder the thoughts resonate in my head," she explained genuinely. I couldn't help but wonder how much of a burden that must be for her. All I could manage to say was, "Oh."
******
HELEN'S POV:
"Why exactly are we invading Grandma Mika's room?" I couldn't help but ask, my curiosity piqued. It was the dead of night, and here we were, plotting to raid the queen's inner sanctum. It did sound rather absurd, didn't it? Well, at least I found it so.
"Hush, Helen, keep your voice down," Marina cautioned me in a hushed tone.
"But I want to know," I persisted. I found myself sandwiched in the middle of our stealthy procession, with Dristan leading the way, followed by Amiera, Marina, myself, Catherine, Victoria, Isadora, and finally, Sofia.
"To uncover the secrets they've concealed for so long," she responded.
"How do you know they're hiding anything?" I pressed once more, feeling lost and excluded as my older sisters often engaged in secretive conversations, believing me too young to comprehend their grown-up matters. Yet, they needed all of us together for this mission, so here I was.
"For heaven's sake, Helen, you ask the silliest questions. That's why we usually leave you out of these discussions!" Catherine hissed, almost snarling, but maintaining a low whisper.
"Stop messing with my head!" I couldn't contain my frustration and raised my voice, a slip that might have awakened the guards.
"What have you done, you fool? Now, what are we going to do?" Amiera snapped back.
"Shh, come here," Dristan intervened, producing something from his pocket. "It's a disappearing cloak. Grandma gave it to me on my fifteenth birthday, and I guess it's finally coming in handy." He smiled as he draped us all in the cloak, allowing us to blend seamlessly with the wall.
I peeked through the fabric to see how close the guards were, their puzzled expressions searching for the source of the noise. Thankfully, we were spared, thanks to Dristan. After some time, the guards moved away without discovering any leads, and we breathed a collective sigh of relief.
Once Dristan removed the cloak, Amiera charged at me. "Why did you do that? Do you have any idea what would have happened if we'd been caught? How can you be so childish?"
Tears welled up in my eyes, not because of her scolding, but because I finally realized how foolish I had been.
"U-Uhm, maybe she acted impulsively. I'm sure she's sorry. Let's put this behind us and focus on the task at hand, shall we?" Catherine interjected, and for the first time, I felt like she was on my side. Nevertheless, I remained angry with her for invading my thoughts without permission; the Veritas band no longer worked on her, and perhaps she needed something more potent.
"Whatever," Amiera rolled her eyes, and Dristan led us to another room.
"So, this is her library?" Sofia marvelled.
"It's enormous!" I exclaimed, taking in the vast collection of books.
"Yes, just like your head!" Amiera muttered though I could hear her clearly. Unable to restrain my anger, I conjured a small ball of light and aimed it at her. I made sure it wouldn't hurt her too much but enough to get my point across.
"Ouch! I was only joking, okay? I'm sorry," she chuckled, and the others joined in. I wasn't particularly amused. But the real question remained: why were we here?
"To gather information about who we truly are," Catherine replied, studying the towering shelves of books.
*****
CATHERINE'S POV:
After an hour of searching, we finally stumbled upon a book titled "The Book of Assyr Antiquity."
"Do you know anything about this?" I asked Dristan, and he shook his head in ignorance. "Alright, then let's start from here tonight," I said with a hopeful smile.
Three and a half days passed, and we had managed to unearth some crucial information:
Our parents were deeply in love, as evidenced by their wedding portraits. It was also the first time we had seen our real mother, who was undeniably beautiful.
An ancient witch named Cyria had made a prophecy before we were born. It foretold that one of us would ascend to the Maximus throne, ruling the universe as the next Empress, and saving it from impending darkness. The prophecy left us with more questions than answers. Would one of us be thrust into a cosmic war? What if that chosen one perished? Did we all share their fate?
We had come to realize that our lives were irrevocably intertwined. When one of us suffered, the others felt it. The only way to ensure our survival was to protect each other.
Yi Hwang, our supposed uncle, was potentially the last wielder of the elemental Phoenix fire. This revelation raised questions about our true parentage.
Our mother had fled the kingdom to Demacia while pregnant, a fact discovered only after her death. We pondered what had driven her to escape the palace. Was there some lurking danger she had sensed?
There was a hidden secret we were unaware of, possibly the reason Queen Lucy had been murdered, as she had been a friend of our mother.
We were born after our mother's death, a fact that seemed impossible. Our lives had been saved by a mysterious magic unknown even to Meridith, as our mother's demise had coincided with the last Rune Fae's passing.
It was evident that Grandma didn't hold us in high regard. We didn't need the book to confirm that.
Our father harboured doubts about our parentage but had faithfully fulfilled his promise to care for us. He even threw a welcoming party for us at the kingdom, where we had to pretend to be a happy family, all at Empress Soraya's insistence.
The book hinted at a hidden truth about our birth, a puzzle piece we needed to uncover. This mystery might be connected to the galactic war mentioned in the prophecy.
Our mother had met a brutal end, and one of her assailants was Yi Hwang, who had fled to Earth.
"Jeez, that's incredibly scary!" Helen exclaimed, sitting next to me. "I don't want to be a part of any war, and I certainly don't want to harm innocent people!"
"You're right, Helen. For once, I agree with you. I can't bear to use my powers to hurt anyone," Amiera added. "I promised my mother I wouldn't, but circumstances forced my hand. I don't want to be involved in a war. It's too much."
"But what about the prophecy?" Victoria questioned.
"I don't know," Amiera replied. "Perhaps the rest of you will have to fulfil it."
"Before that, we need to find out who we truly are," Sofia interjected, leaving us all bewildered. "Are we even King Tartelon's daughters? And if not, why would Yi Hwang kill our mother, knowing she was carrying his child?"
Sofia raised a valid point. We needed answers. It was crucial to unravel the mysteries that had plagued us all our lives. Just when we thought we had found some answers, a new set of questions had emerged.
"I think I've found something," Isadora burst into our room, clutching a small diary.
"What's going on? What's that?" I asked, taken aback.
"I found something that could give us answers. But now, the soldiers are after me," she said, a hint of fear in her voice.
"Isa, calm down and tell me what happened. What did you do?"
"I found Mother's diary!"
******
Isadora began to recount the story of how she and Dristan had managed to access our mother's chamber and locate a small diary on her shelves. That was only part of the puzzle; they had found the other half in the kingdom of Demacia, with Dristan's assistance in sneaking in. I couldn't help but wonder how Dristan knew all these shortcuts, but at least he had agreed to help us.
Finally, we learned about "the amber gem," something designed to weaken us. The question that loomed large was, why did she want to weaken us? What was happening?
"So our powers were divided?" I asked, taken aback.
"It seems that way," Isa replied.
The others gathered around me, and we began to read the diary. We discovered details about our mother's early romance with Yi Hwang, as well as her declaration of love for Tartelon, our father, towards the end of the diary. However, there were no clear answers about our true identities.
"I suppose we need to find that gem in order to regain your powers," Dristan suggested.
"But how? We don't even know where it is!" Amiera exclaimed.
"I do know it's somewhere on Earth," he replied, and we stared at him in astonishment. How did he know that? "A few years ago, a witch's clan uncovered an oracle that foretold an impending war in Meridith. It mentioned that only the amber gem could secure victory. We conducted further research and learned that it had been stolen by Yi Hwang initially, who fled to Earth to escape punishment."
"In that case, we're going to Earth to retrieve what belongs to us. We also want to confront Yi Hwang to uncover the truth," Marina declared angrily.
"But how? We don't even know how to get there, and we've never been to Earth. We don't know what kind of beings we'll encounter there. What if..." Helen tried to voice her concerns, her nervousness palpable.
"Don't worry, Helen. I know of a place that can transport you to Earth. All you have to do is take care of each other and recover the gem. It's your destiny, and you must fulfil your responsibilities," Dristan reassured us.
That night, he did his best to persuade us to visit Earth, retrieve the amber gem, and confront Yi Hwang. I had to admit, he managed to convince us.
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
Well, They are almost on their way towards their fated destiny. Find out more in the next chapter.