Ija suddenly felt her heart beat faster. The connection she felt with the princess suddenly vanished.
It was as if she suddenly stopped existing. Fear gripped Ija's heart as her mind began to contemplate what was going on.
How could that happen? Her head thought of countless scenarios, but she knew it could probably only mean one thing. Princess Lena was dead. That would be the only time she would no longer feel connection to the rune she placed on her.
"How can this happen?"
Not thinking much of things, decided to return back to the capital.
"Let's go" Ija said to Thia.
"What? Where are we going to?" Thia asked.
"I can't feel Lena anymore, It's as if she suddenly dropped from the surface of the earth" Ija said, trying not to think of the worse possible scenario.
"I knew I shouldn't have left her side." Ija spat regretfully
"The only time I did, this happens*.
Ija summoned Iji and climbed on the ferocious beast ready to fly back to the capital.
"What are you doing? Let's go" Ija said to Thia who stood there, motionless.
Thia suddenly looked at Ija and and all too familiar feeling enveloped the entire place.
The suddenly drop in temperature, the eerie feeling enveloped Ija's soul, the smell of death clogged the air and a feeling of horror invaded her heart. It was the same as few days ago when Thia had summoned her curse.
"What.." Ija stared at Thia in shock.
"Thia?" Ija called at the child. Thia stared back at Ija with her eyes emitting a fiery glow.
A silver flames burned deep in her eyes, making Thia look like something had possessed her very soul
"What are you?" Ija asked.
Thia/Iku studied her/Thia's body as if it was trying to discern something. After a while Iku/Thai smiled.
"It seems she'll come into realization of her self very soon" Iku said.
"This didn't happen the last time." He added
"I'll ask again, what are you?" Ija asked. Holding on to her sword.
"I didn't come here to fight" Iku raised Thia's hand up.
"Sorry if I don't believe you, our last wasn't really a friendly one" Ija said.
"Ahh, that. Forgive me for my hostility back then. I only answered to the little apocalypse will". Iku said.
"What kind of curse are you? How can you do that to your vessel, are you... Alive?" Ija asked.
Iku let out a small laughter like Ija had told the most craziest joke of them all.
"I won't call myself a curse, but for the lack of a better term, let's say I'm one. Then for second question, I'm death itself, so I'm neither alive nor dead and that's why I can also tell you, the Princess which you long to save is still alive" Iku said.
"What, how would you know that?" Ija asked
"Like I said my lady, I'm death itself and I can easily tell you, of the lives reaped today, your princess is not among". Iku said trying to reassure Ija.
"Why are you doing this, why did you come out now, heck what's going on..." Ija asked feeling confused.
"I would love to answer all your questions, but unfortunately even I don't have answers to most of them. All I know is the three apocalypse must survive, only them can defeat the devil from the desert."
"Three Apocalypse defeat a devil. Is that some kind of prophecy?" Ija asked
"I wish it was just a prophecy my lady, but it's just the only choice this world has if it wants to survive." Iku replied regretfully
"Who are the other two apocalypse, and who is this devil and what does it want" Ija asked
"I'm sorry my lady, this is the much time I can stay without putting an heavy burden on the little apocalypse soul".
"We'll meet soon, Champion of wisdom...." Iku said and the silver flame in Ija's eyes dimmed, causing the young girl came back to her senses. Feeling dizzy from the strain the possession put on her body, Thia lost her balance
Ija Quickly came down from Iji to catch Thia who was loosing her balance.
"Are you alright.." Ija said to Thia after catching her.
"Uhn..., I'm fine" Thia replied
"What happened?" Thia asked.
Ija looked at Thia, geneiuly worried.
"How can she not remember..."
"Ija, what happened?" Thia asked again
"Nothing happened Thia".
"I thought you wanted to return to the city".
"Oh, that? There's no need for that, I can sense her again" Ija lied.
"Oh, I guess we'll just have to wait then."
"Yes, We'll wait."
Both of them waited for a while. There was a feeling of unspoken awkwardness between them making them stay in silence.
Ija continued to wonder what Iku was talking about. Three apocalypse and Thia was one of them. She had witnessed Thia's power briefly and could not believe how strong her curse was.
'If the child manages to control her ability, she strength would be able to tilt the balance of power. But she's not the only one, turns out there are three of them. If the remaining two are as powerful as Thia, then I wonder if the whole world will be safe'.
Three apocalypse... One is Thia, who are the other two...
A feeling of dread filled Ija, with the information she just received. Is he one of them Ija thought... King Jai.
If he is, then the world is surely doomed. 'Another candidate is Gor, he's also powerful, but he's not as strong as Thia. Or Maybe it's because I haven't seen the full extent of his ability' Ija thought.
Then there's the Devil from the desert. There were alot of powerful people in the desert but only one person comes to mind as a true devil in human disguise... King Jai.
If" I were to chose if he's one of the three apocalypse or the devil in the desert, then he's definitely the devil" Ija concluded
Feeling like she won't get anywhere with mere speculation, she decided to call on Thia.
"Thia, you know I'll protect you right?" Ija asked.
"Yes..." Thia replied
"Then I want you to do one thing for me."Ija said.
"Immediately we get to the place your friends are. I want you to take them and run away. I'll save the princess myself." Ija said.
"Why? I can help. I might not look like it but I'm quite strong" Thia said.
"If you were, you won't need me now would you?" Ija said and Thia frowned
"If you and your friends stay you'll only slow me down. I need to be able to go all out, and I can't do that if you and your friends are there. You'll only serve as targets for the enemy." Ija said.
Thia pouted for a while but she agreed to the plan. She would leave with her friends, while Ija stayed back and dealt with the others.
"Good, now let's go Ija" said.
"Where are we going to?" Thia asked.
"I can feel Lena again, andnd she's very close by." Ija said.