<< Immortal realm—Heavenly palace >>
There was total silence in the heavenly palace. All the high-ranking gods and goddesses (god of the netherworld, god of rain, sun god, goddess of love, goddess of fertility, land god and goddess, e.t.c) exchanged awkward looks as they seemed to have something to say, but are too scared to voice out their worries.
King Daniil's stoic expression doesn't seem to help their situation either because no one knows what's going on through his head—a misplaced word might send them to the dungeon.
"Is anyone of you going to speak, or are you here just to stare at each other until night fall?" King Daniil's commanding voice broke the suffocating silence.
The gods and goddesses shifted uncomfortably in their seats, their eyes darting nervously towards each other. King Daniil's question hung in the air, heavy with expectation and a hint of annoyance—it's almost like he already knew the purpose for the gathering.
Knowing that they could no longer avoid the impending conversation that had been weighing on their minds, the god of rain, Dmitri, who's known throughout the immortal realm for his wisdom and foresight, cleared his throat and spoke up.
"Your Majesty, we have gathered here today to discuss a matter of utmost importance." he paused briefly as his eyes glanced around to see if the others support him, then continued when he received a few nods. "It concerns the delicate balance of both our immortal realm and the mortal realm."
King Daniil's piercing gaze fell upon Dmitri, his eyes narrowing slightly. "Go on," he commanded, his voice laced with impatience.
Dmitri took a deep breath, gathering his thoughts before continuing. "Your Majesty, we have noticed a disturbance in the natural order of things. The phoenix queen has not been reborn for thousands of years now, and it's causing some disturbance in nature…"
A loud bang on the table cut Dmitri off, he bowed his head in submission when his eyes met King Daniil's impatient and angry face.
"Stop beating about the bush" King Daniil growled.
"Yes, your Majesty" Dmitri muttered quickly and continued. "I had a discussion with land god a few days ago, and he was complaining about how the blue sea of Magadan of the mortal realm is slowing changing from its natural color…"
"You're still beating about the bush!"
"Sorry, your Majesty…"
"Hurry up!"
"Yes, my King. We need the phoenix queen's nourishing breath as soon as possible"
A murmur of agreement rippled through the once silent room as the gods and goddesses exchanged worried glances, they all suddenly had the courage to voice out their thoughts now.
The goddess of fertility, Mariya who's known for her nurturing nature, spoke up next.
"Your Majesty, Dmitri is right. It's been thousands of years, and we believe the phoenix has been continually reincarnated, but maybe we aren't searching the right place for her"
Her words seem to confuse everyone, including King Daniil himself. King Daniil raised his left brow, telepathically telling Mariya to elaborate on her words.
"What I mean, your Majesty is, the phoenix queen might not be reborn into heaven. She might be in the netherworld whilst we're waiting for her return here in the heavens"
"Right" Dmitri agreed.
King Daniil's expression remained stoic, but a flicker of concern passed through his eyes. "What do you propose we do, goddess of fertility?" he asked.
"My suggestion is, we should also search the netherworld since she obviously hasn't returned to the heavens" she suggested.
The room fell silent once again as the gods and goddesses contemplated the Mariya's proposal. It made no sense to them because the netherworld is the demon realm, and a heavenly being isn't expected to be reborn into a demon realm.
Boris, god of the netherworld, drew everyone's attention as he cleared his throat. "It's not possible, Mariya" he said.
"And why not?" Mariya asked.
"You know we had four realms until the great war with Anatoly, in which King Daniil eradicated the devil realm and divided the rest of the universe into three realms, the immortal realm, the demon realm and the mortal realm"
Everyone nodded, desperately waiting for his conclusion.
"...and since then, we've all been living in coexistence under the reign of his Majesty, King Daniil" he did a respectful bow towards King Daniil. "But even though we're coexisting, we don't interfere with each other's business, hence, the possibility of the phoenix queen's rebirth into the netherworld is zero" he concluded.
Another series of murmurs arose as some gods and goddesses agreed with Boris, while others see reasons in Mariya's words.
"Boris is absolutely right" Dmitri said. "She can't be reborn into the demon realm, but we need to search other places and can't just focus on finding her here in heaven"
"Where do we search then? The human realm?" Mariya piped in, feeling a bit agitated.
"She's not in the human realm either" Igor, land god, chipped in. "My wife and I would have found out if she's reborn into the human realm" land goddess nodded supporting her husband.
Another silence fell on them, but Mariya didn't let it last, as an idea crossed her mind and she spoke up.
"It doesn't necessarily mean that only the phoenix queen has a nourishing breath, every phoenix in our phoenix clan has a nourishing breath" she said cheerily.
"What are you trying to say?" Boris asked.
Mariya shrugged with a hopeful smirk on her lips. "My niece is gorgeous, why not get her married to his Majesty and see if…"
King Daniil's narrowed eyes cut her off, his jaws clenched tightly and she quickly bowed her head as fear gripped her, knowing she has spoken out of place and might receive some harsh punishment. But King Daniil's attention was shifted to Aleksandr, the general of the heavenly army who's also his (King Daniil's) personal bodyguard, who barged into the palace with an extremely worried expression.
"Your Majesty" Aleksandr greeted as he fell on his face. King Daniil frowned at him, he knew at once that something was wrong, since Aleksandr only does this when something terrible has happened.
"What has happened, Aleksandr?" King Daniil asked.
"Your Majesty, Anatoly has escaped" Aleksandr dropped the bomb.
Everyone gasped in great shock. King Daniil balled his fist, his jaw clenched tighter than before, and provocation flashed through his narrowed eyes. The tension in the room was palpable, as gods and goddesses exchange nervous glances.
The very air turned heavy with impending danger.