The darkness did not last very long; two iridescent beings stood facing each other. Astara and Gardenia faced each other in an ethereal plain of existence.
"Do not forget what you promised me," Gardenia said as she connected her right hand with Astra's.
Astra locked eyes with Gardenia; a blazing fire shone in her. "I will keep our promise; not a single being within the Lucia Kingdom will live without knowing the name Gardenia Honeysuckle."
A pact was formed within the depths of the underworld.
Gardenia regained consciousness. Jia er was no longer with her, and the chamber felt cold without his presence. Lady Gardenia felt something was missing but could not pinpoint it. It could not be the lack of his absence. No, what was missing was something within her.
Walking towards the mirror, Gardenia found she no longer looked like herself, but she also did not look like Astra. Her eyes were golden, her skin a beautiful bronze, and her hair as black as obsidian. The person who looked back at her was someone from a distant time. No wonder Astra could inhabit Gardenia's vessel with little trouble; their souls had once been one.
"Do you understand?" Jia er's voice pulled Gardenia out of the memory.
Gardenia rose from the bed. "What was that?" The emptiness was still there, but the room was no longer cold.
Jia er observed Gardenia as she tried to understand what had just happened. "Did you think your dark attribute was the only reason you could inhabit this vessel without intervention from the gods?"
Even though they had not known each other long, Jia er was becoming harder to read. Gardenia's head felt like it would implode. All she could do was grasp for air. Something was suffocating her, and he was just letting it happen. No, it was more like he was unaware of what was happening to her.
"You need to breathe," Jia er said, placing a hand on the small of Gardenia's back. Inhale through your nose, count to ten, and slowly release through your mouth. "It seems your body is trying to remind you of the memories you have suppressed."
Gardenia was fighting the urge to claw at her skin. This revolting feeling was similar to what she had felt the night she died as Astra Cross at the hands of the Ninth Prince and Duke Gerard. Those two had a twisted friendship.
If society were to learn of the Ninth Prince and Duke Gerard's vileness, would it condemn them the same way it had all their victims? Jia er walked her through the bubbling panic.
Where had he been when she needed him? The suffocating sensation was refusing to go away. Why did those memories have to resurface?
"It was never your fault," Jia er consoled her, "you had no say in the matter." Hearing Jia er's words was like a damn breaking loose. Gardenia broke down crying, her face buried in his chest, her cries muffled as her shoulders shook violently.
"I can destroy them for you," Jia er whispered, "but something tells me the only way for you to heal is to allow them to fall by your hand."
By the time Gardenia fell asleep, it was sunrise. Having spent the whole night crying, she was exhausted. Tomorrow, she would seek revenge. Today, she would sleep, she told herself. Jia er stayed with her all through the night and past the sunrise.
"Is everything in place?" Jia er asked the shadow that crept into the room, "Has San Wol arrived?"
"I am here to deliver San Wol's message," the guard said. San Wol would sooner swallow blazing nails than set foot in the Kingdom of Lucia."
Jia er was not pleased with the message sent by the High Priestess of the Cresent Mountain. "Tell her if she wishes to have the funding for her temple, she will enter the Kingdom of Lucia, damned be the gods."
The guard inclined his head, "As you command." Then he stepped back and disappeared the same way he had come.
Jia er belonged to a secret organization that caught demons and spirits. The members were scattered throughout the two empires. He had arrived intent on destroying Gardenia's contract, but when he realized who she was, Jia er could not bring himself to kill her.
For countless lifetimes, he had searched and waited, and finally, she was before him, but there was little he could do until she asked him to. Many lifetimes ago, they promised to always be there for one another, yet Gardenia seemed to have no recollection of their past.
Gardenia opened her eyes to find herself still in Jia er's embrace; something about his presence brought a calmness to her mind. Until now, she had acted without a plan; she wanted to tell him how she felt but was afraid he would think her brash. After all, they had not known each other very long.
Slowly, Gardenia pushed herself away from Jia er, adjusting her nightgown as she looked around the room, uncertain how to behave.
"Where am I?" Up until now, Gardenia had not realized she was not at the Honeysuckle estate; her mind was preoccupied with other matters.
Jia er backed away from the bed, "Within the palace walls, this is the chamber I currently occupy as a guest of the second prince."
Gardenia's breath caught in her throat. Unsure of what to say, she busied herself gathering her clothes. The sooner she left the palace, the better.
"I thank you for your assistance, but I must return to the estate," Gardenia said, dressing in the previous night's dress. She contemplated how she would leave the palace unnoticed. Entering without the King's permission was punishable by death.
"You are here as a guest; they will not harm you," Jia er wanted to tell Gardenia to stay. Even though he had grown up within the Imperial City, life within palace walls was simply excruciating to him. Between political schemes and vying for the throne, he was merely exhausted and did not want to stay in the palace.
"I would like to return home unnoticed," Gardenia said carefully. It was too soon to trust best; be careful.
"Returning to the Honeysuckle estate might be troublesome," Jia er said. "They already announced your disappearance and annulment of engagement with Duke Gerard. The Kingdom believes you ran off with a secret lover."
Gardenia squinted her eyes at Jia er, "And why would they think that?"
"You should as Lucas Honeysuckle that," Jia er picked up a letter and extended it towards Gardenia, "House Honeysuckle has sequestered him within the Tower of Light."
"The Tower of Light is a prison for Dark Mages," Gardenia took the letter from Jia er, only one sentence was written on it. "Be free, little bird."
"It seems the Honeysuckle clan had one decent member," Jia er said, "Lucas claimed the destruction of the estate was caused by his use of the dark arts in an attempt to resurrect an old lover."
"But Lucas's attribute is water, not darkness." Gardenia could not make heads or tails of what was going on. "How long was I asleep for?"
"Just two days," Jia er said, "it is up to you what you do next."