Arizona only smiled and again, took my hands in hers.
"If you must know, despite the fact that you have been away from Hijirar for a very long time, he still loves you as his daughter. The same love he has for Melissa your sister is also the the same love he has for you" Arizona said, giving a different answer to my question.
I smirked at her answer and I couldn't help but groan.
"You should be grateful that I didn't take the truth so seriously" I scoffed while blinking my eyes unnecessarily.
"What do you mean?" Arizona asked getting a little bit curious.
"I mean, you should be grateful that I didn't lash out in rage or maybe run away after being told the truth that my parents used me to pass judgement on an evil sorcerer" I replied taking in little air.
"That's probably because you are smart" old lady Papirus said this time around.
A sudden confusion overshadowed my face.
"I don't quite get it".
Old lady Papirus smiled and removed my hands from Arizona's hands. While taking my hands in hers. Arizona eyed her sternly, maybe for taking her place as the mother.
"You were able piece up the truth on your own by the little information I offered". Old lady Papirus explained her point.
"So that really explains that I'm smart" I grinned broadly making Arizona to chuckle. "So what happens next?"
The two ladies shrugged their shoulders. I sighed abruptly as I thought about what to do next.
"How about we both head back home?" Old lady Papirus suggested. "And it will be a good avenue to let Ovie know about who you really are".
"Whose Ovie?" Arizona asked.
I hissed at her question but I answered anyways.
"He's a friend of mine. We both found our way into Umuguor forest" I replied innocently.
"Is he some kind of a boyfriend?" Arizona asked the obvious.
"Why do you ask that?"
"Because his scent is probably over you" Arizona said with a Stern glare.
Getting up from the chair, I flexed my hands and legs after being tired of sitting for a long time. I literally stretched before looking back at both old lady Papirus and Arizona.
An idea seemed to flash into my head and I couldn't help but smile as my gaze fell on the two women. Old lady Papirus and Arizona looked at me,expectant of what I had to say.
"I would like to pay a visit to Hijirar's Abode and also get to meet my father" I requested with utmost sincerity. "How about that?"
The two women looked at each other and maybe communicating in their ancient snake language. After their brief secret discussion,they both looked at me.
"So, how about my idea?" I asked raising my shoulders in a childish way.
"If that's what you request for,then I'll be happy to grant it" Arizona spoke with an outstanding motherly love.
"But first we have to find Melissa" old lady Papirus said with a smirk.
"I thought she would be back after an hour?" I asked.
"She would be back very soon but since you wish to see Hijirar, I won't waste any of your time" Arizona stood up from her own chair and approached me with a satisfied smile.
"Anyways, is there anything I need to know about Hijirar's Abode or maybe some form of warning or something?" I requested again when Arizona was a few feet away from me.
"Not actually, only that the inhabitants of Hijirar's Abode are mostly ordinary snakes, snake spirits and snake immortals. Humans are forbidden from entering Hijirar's Abode so I would advice you be in your snake form when you get there" .
I nodded immediately understanding Arizona's advice. But I was quite nervous about seeing my father who is actually a god. What if Hijirar is that type of god that is usually proud?
Arizona seemed to have noticed my nervousness so she flashed me a soothing smile and pecked my forehead.
I was a lot surprised by her sudden act. Normally,it was only Ovie and the woman who had raised me (my grandmother), usually kissed and pecked me. It was new to me but I did my best not to react to her pecking me.
"I'm so happy that you didn't react negatively when I had told you the truth. We had all expected you to get angry but it's a good thing you did the right thing to calm yourself and listen to what I had to say" Arizona spoke with a caring voice.
She let go of my hands and took a few steps away from me. Once she was a meter or two away from me,she stretched out her right hand and a blue staff appeared in her hand. Not wasting time,she allowed her energy to flow from her body into the staff creating the staff to emit blue light. The light grew larger and stronger as it wrapped around the whole staff.
The staff transforms into a portal of similar and familiar blue light. The portal moved round in a circular motion and the it's blue light shone with great power.
Arizona brought her hand down and also put to rest her spiritual energy. Her body which was once glowing blue light during the creation of the portal, wasn't glowing anymore.
Arizona looked at me and smiled, giving me a reassuring gaze.
"If you are confused about the staff I used for the creation of the portal,it wouldn't harm if I perhaps explain it to you" Arizona kindly offered as she walked back to me.
I nodded simultaneously while muttering a 'yes'.
"It's actually an ancient artifact that is used as a gateway to Hijirar's Abode. Only snake immortals possess it. But it is only used to create portals to Hijirar's Abode" Arizona explained taking my hand and leading me to the portal.
"Thanks for the brief explanation" I appreciated while following Arizona as she lead me to the portal.
I waved at old lady Papirus who in turn waved at me before I entered the portal.
Before the portal closed, I didn't miss the sight of Arizona's teary eyes. A feeling of hurt seemed to overwhelm me seeing my recently known mother crying. But why was she crying?
Despite the fact that a lot of my questions have been answered,there were still more that needed answers. Like for example,how do I get to find the snake god in a world full of nothing but snakes?
&&&
Immediately the portal closed, I was greeted by a place filled with an outstanding darkness. The whole place was filled with darkness and a feeling of unsettlement overwhelmed me. It was more like a world filled with only darkness.
Fear crept into me but I tried to hold my courage up.
It wasn't up to a minute when I woke up again and found myself lying on the ground. As my eyes fluttered open, I immediately sensed that I was in a different environment. Realization seemed to hit me that the world filled with darkness that I had earlier seen,was nothing but a vision. Somehow, I felt like I was connected to that vision. It was more like someone was calling up to me.
But I didn't have time to think about the vision.
I jumped up,on my feet while dusting sand from my clothes. When I looked around my environment, I noticed that I was on top of a little hill. Right beside me was a peach tree filled with lovely pitches that I seemed to be salivating for.
But I learned not to trust anything I see. And I was currently in my human form, though I didn't feel like transforming into my snake form. So it's better I stay human.
Moving on to make more discoveries of my environment,I walked over to my right and I was greeted by a great City. The city lay below the hill and it seemed to be bustling with a lot of activities. The city had a lot of wonderful and beautiful buildings that were skillfully designed. It was more like a human city but the only difference between it and a human city,was that it was filled with only half snakes.
Looks like the only accepted form a snake is supposed to take in Hijirar's Abode, is the half snake form. Cause literally everyone in the city were half snakes. The city were guarded by a large army of powerful snake immortals. The army of guards surrounded the whole large and huge city and guarded it in case of any attacks.
Moving over to the left side of the hill,my gaze fell upon the longest forest I had ever seen. But my instincts told me that this forest was a dangerous one. The forest emitted raw dark energy and that quickly put fear in my heart. Especially the fact that,loud roars could be head from the forest vicinity.
A dark cloud hovered upon the dark forest. It was more like there was a heavy storm. And to prove to that,bolts of lightning and thunder showed on the forest, shaking the forest grounds.
Moving on to the front of the hill, my gaze settled on a vast ocean that seemed to lead to 'god who knows were'. The ocean was quite peaceful and I was sure that a lot of water snakes took the ocean as their home.
At the back of the hill stood a large fortress. It was the largest fortress I had ever seen. On top of the fortress was boldly written the word in large. This word seemed to drive fear into me and I quickly understood it's meaning.
"THE DUNGEON"
After reading the word, I looked down into the fortress and I noticed something that would be best described as, slavery. The prisoners of the Fortress seemed to be other creatures like goblins, werewolves, vampires, shape shifters, and all that.
According to my own valuation, these creatures must have cunningly found their way into Hijirar's Abode, either to possess and dominate the land or to live amongst the inhabitants of Hijirar's Abode. From the way I see it, these creatures were therefore condemned to eternal slavery by Hijirar.
After making a lot of discoveries about Hijirar's Abode, I turned to look at the peach tree as it seemed quite inviting. Just as I was about to decide on it, I started hearing voices.
Scared that I might be caught and forced into eternal slavery, I ran and hid behind the peach tree. I decided that it was actually a good time to transform into my half snake form.
It wasn't long when two male half snakes were seen crawling (or should I say walking) up the hill. In a jiffy,they were at the top of the hill.
One of the two male half snakes was green in colour with a corresponding green eyes as well. He had a bulky body and from my valuation,he was a full snake spirit.
The other was also a bulky half snake. It was white in colour and it had white scales on his face and hands. It's eyes were correspondingly white. His ears were as long as an elf's.
He seemed to be a different specie from the other one but when I had inspected him closely,I found out that he was a snake immortal. Which only means he was more upgraded than the other green half snake.
The two male half snakes seemed to be engrossed in a spectacular conversation which I was damn going to hear.