9 JUNI’s little SECRE (1/2)

Her eyes were tired, and her cloak was clinging unevenly on her shoulders. The wind is blowing sparingly as if denying her comfort while she dragged herself away, step by step, forcing every will within her, from the charcoal black path to the gates. Sweat and tears dribbled from her face joining together in her perfectly carved chin only to drop down to commune with the earth, abandoning her in her plight. Her eyes blurred in vision while she felt her heart pumping disturbingly fast, choking her in her every breath, in her every step, and in every muscle she moves, in her attempt to reach the end of the road: the exit to the shrine of Bakunawa. With her last energy she commanded all of her remaining spirit to create an illuminating light to open the old creaking door to reveal her travelling companions outside.

”YOUR HIGHNESS!” alerted Karr, the ever loyal Daomagarian guard, as he ran to catch her fall as soon as he saw her wavering in her walk with a visage of extreme pain and obvious discomfort.

He had never witnessed this side of her like this. She never shown any signs of weakness to anyone - even to her most loyal subjects. Her proud character gives her the twisted philosophy of being a person bound in the realms of logic devoid of any encumbering emotions. She is convinced that if she ever makes a mistake of sharing her pain with someone, it will lead for her to be exposed to weaknesses and that is what she is afraid of the most. Even in the midst of pain and discomfort, she will stand indifferent, powerful without flaw, and would not give anyone the idea to think otherwise. She likes other people - especially her enemies - to think that she has an impenetrable and indestructible persona and an act like this would greatly destroy her reputation. The last time he saw her dwindle like this was when she was six years old - and this means that this time, it's serious.

They all saw her now gasping for air with blood now dripping from her nose, eyes and the Amplifyers in her forehead. They huddled in anxiety awaiting any comfort from her words till Zeba entered wailing.

”Your excellence! What happened?!” she said with her concerned face while pushing her wet handkerchief on her soft forehead trying to soothe her wretched state. ”We saw the skies getting dark with the blood moon rising; and the Nanreben being awaken; and a huge fireball being summoned. Did you fight Bakunawa?”

Prodea's eyes began to flutter weakly as she struggled with words while still gasping for air. ”G-g… get… me o-h… out o-f here…” she said blurry before she fell into a slumber losing all her consciousness at their hands.

Zeba noticed Prodea's Amplifyers light flickering. This troubled her and all the Daomagarians around her for it means that she used an excessive amount of elemental energy that would lead one to be extinguished of one's soul - a dire state one might call the early stages of the Sleep of Death.

The Sleep of Death is a state of the body, in which if left untreated, would lead for her to sleep paralyzed, unable to be awaken ever again till the rest of her remaining life, like an aging statue.

”We must bring her immediately to the Palace...” said Zeba frantically, fearing what the queen might do to her if anything happened to her only daughter on her watch. ”But we can't. She'll get mad. We must keep this as silent as possible... but how?”

”Madam Zeba!” interrupted Karr. ”I could run to the Palace and grab a Nagozulian Healer and bring her at the nearest rest stop south from here.”

”Yes! Yes!” agreed Zeba panicking but having a little bit of comfort with his suggestion.

Karr was about to leave when Zeba yelled stopping him on his tracks.

”Wait! If you call a Water Caster here, will the Princess be...” she stopped panning her eyes to Prodea, frightened on what the princess might do after regaining consciousness and then continued, ”... I don't know - angry?”

”With all due respect Madam, the safety of the charge is my priority. We should deal with the consequences later.”

Zeba then thought about how furious the princess will be to everyone if they include a healer in their dilemma. They knew about how fast the rumors go and as much as she wants to make her state strictly confidential, the idea of the princess dying is far more troublesome to face than her wrath.

”Okay, okay!” she finally decided with a shaky voice, ”We will wait for you in the nearest village south from here, hurry!”

Karr dashed with Zeba's last words without a sound, running fast into the horizons till he vanished in the woods.

-------ooO0Ooo-------

”BOO!” shouted Karus as he popped at the kitchen trying to scare of the people inside.

”Hmmn, that's odd,” entered Kayzar after Karus, walking around the corners as if looking for someone.

”Hello? Anybody here?”

They walked inside the dimly lit kitchen cautious on every step. There are black curtains that are blocking the windows which they thought to be deliberately set up there since the room is unusually bright as a summer's day even in the darkest of days. No tongues of candles can be found all around the room. Only a sliver of light traced the corners and lines that suggest the figure of objects to the hungry eyes.

”Tch, Not Again,” groaned Kayzar figuring what they were into as he drew a knife that's hidden in his new fashionable robe.

Karus grabbed a knife at the table, still cautious as he is.

”Come out, come out wherever you are,” Karus whispered smiling, looking back and forth, sideways and at the top, searching for people inside the room.

A knife flew from Kayzar's back and went forth to Karus' location. Kayzar saw this so he threw the dagger he was holding to intercept it. His timing was perfect for the knife that was coming directly to Karus's back was deflected but at the cost of his own vulnerability since he surprisingly stashed only a single dagger. He thought he really doesn't need that many for security unlike when they are outside, so he mistakenly stashed a lonely dagger in his attire. He usually goes too far in hiding weapons around his spacious long sleeved apparel mounting to more than a hundred ranging from the small throwing pins to the long strike blades but today of all days he practically loosened up and carried a single thin short dagger which is good only for peeling fruits - a very disappointing act that he extremely regrets.

”Karus! Palms! Shield Stance!” ordered Kayzar, in a code that only they understand, while running to Karus' location.

”Affirmative!” replied Karus as he kicked the pots and cans at his immediate vicinity and clear any obstacles for him to defend Kayzar who's running towards him.

A silver hand suddenly appeared below a table on the dark corner that grabbed Karus' right foot before he'd jumped. He looked at Kayzar to warn him but it's too late. The arm that's been pulling Karus's leg is so strong that it led for him to fall on the ground. He forcefully pulled to retrieve his leg back in futility from the clutches of the grasping unknown silver hand coming from the darkness, but it was in vain. The hand is so strong and sturdy it didn't even shook to his struggling fit.

Kayzar saw the hand pulling his brother's body under the table so he removed a strap on his bracer and grabbed the needle dangling. He fixed this needle to throw but before he could react and help Karus, an individual unexpectedly appeared from behind grabbing his body and locking him on a hug with a knife directly pointing at his neck.

”Game over,” said a female voice that's been holding Kayzar immobilized.

”Yit! You and your cheat skills!” protested Kayzar as he dropped the needle that's in his hands.

The hand that's been holding Karus's leg let go and disappeared. Suddenly, between the tall cupboards, Kudos appeared grasping his right arm as though it's been seriously strained.

”I tot' imma lose my hand 'der for a second but yer' gettin' rusty - 'd two of ya. Ya 'shud be trainin' more on 'yer reflexes.”

As he was saying this Madj withdrew the dagger fixed at Kayzar's neck, stepping slowly away grinning at them. This irritated the twins feeling as if they are being played at.

”Isn't it just possible for us to grab some lunch here without being attacked?” roared Karus. ”You always plan your deliberate assault to test us every time we meet and it's just really tiring especially when you're hungry.”

”Yeah! That's unfair! You've been using the shadow step -again. How could you possibly think we could escape that!?” Kayzar grumpily added looking at Kudos with much frustration while he pulled the dagger, he threw that ricocheted piercing the wooden wall.

Karus stood up and sat on a chair in the corner of the table checking his foot to see if Kudos had done anything bad to it while Kayzar went and followed him grabbing an apple on the table and taking a furious bite.

”He's right that's really unfair. You should teach us that and we'll see who's better,” immediately pointed out Karus after finding nothing wrong on his foot.

”Well, too sorry for 'ya bein' Nagozulians,” laughed Kudos grabbing the knife he threw and went on every window to remove the silky black cloth that's been veiling the room. ”Yer little Nagozulian feet can't do 'wat 'd Daomagarian feet can. Besides, even if 'ya train really really hard, 'ya cannot achieve 'd full Shadow Step.”

”Hmph, as if you've really mastered the shadow step like Liv...” said Karus.

”True,” he replied. ”'Dat's 'cos we're not usin' 'd Shadow Step on you. We're not even halfway 'der yet.”

Madj cleaned the pots that were earlier kicked by Karus and went near the table to put them there. She then grabbed the vegetables to prepare the meal that the two wanted.

”So, what d'ya want for lunch,” finally entered Madj as she chopped vegetables and spices at a frightening rate and with superb accuracy.

”What do you want?” Karus smiled returning the question back to the chef, changing his mood instantaneously looking hungry with all her chopping and the scent of the broth boiling.

”I'll have what you're having.”

”Seriously, 'wat d'ya guys havin'?” stopped Kudos with eyes squinting towards Madj stopping her from repeating asking all circling questions that happened before wasting about half an hour before conceding.

”Hmnn... Do you have red meat readily available there,” replied Karus smiling as if having the upper hand which Madj ignored snobbishly turning her back at them returning to her fast chopping.

”And some veggies,” added Kayzar. ”We certainly need some vegetables. We always eat meat at the training, and we don't 'wanna destroy our diet.”

”Alr'ayty 'den. Pork brot' wit' a mix stew, fallow'd by a ju'sy midyum-rer reds an' a t'ird cors o' broyl'd w'ayts garnis'd in seaweeds wit' ice cold mangoes for dessert. How d'ya like 'dat?”

”No, no. it's too much,” declined Karus though his eyes are panning on the background with much weariness as if already regretting the things he'll be missing. ”We're kind of in a hurry...”

”He's right. We have plans later this afternoon so we really need to eat really really fast.”

”It's 'ol right. We'll just heat 'd reds so 'dat you can be on 'yer way.”

”And Kudos,” persisted Kayzar, ”don't forget the veggies...”

”Ha ha, comin' r'ayt up...”

The brothers are the only ones who dine with the servants. Most of the elderly nobles think that it is not proper for the servants to join up with them when they're having their meals. The twins probably thought that the Nagozulian Royal Family acquired this tradition from the easterners when their ancestors had their Quest for Wisdom hundreds of years ago or so, but they have a different take on this. They thought that it's improper to starve the servants, forcing them to eat only after the Royal Family had ended their every meal. That is not what they learned from their parents, Artemus and Anagea, and they certainly wouldn't really abide on doing this kind of tradition now.

They also feel sickened on how Prodea and Sarram treat their servants as slaves as if they practically own their souls with their unreasonable workloads and unrelenting verbal abuses. Servants in the Palace who deserves their hard-earned wages should be treated like a person not a property but that's not how it goes in the Palace. And it doesn't help that the other nobles tries to emulate Prodea and Sarram's streak of pushing the servants to their extreme thresholds - that's saying much because they are Daomagarians and they are known to have a surprisingly extraordinary thresholds that no ordinary mortal can fathom. This is why they try so hard to deviate from this practice and maintain a close relationship with the servants and guards as much as possible. They actually don't want to be associated with their bad behavior even if it means that they won't be popular with the noble crowd.

”So, where's Liv anyway?” asked Madj as she put plates in front of the twins disrupting their thoughts.

”She's with mom at the north I s'pose,” replied Karus. ”But seeing as she liked having her adventures, I think she's somewhere in the mountains or at the jungles.”

”She can't be seen here y'know,” added Kayzar. ”Being our half-sister means a lot of trouble from the upper ups and the queen doesn't hide her wrath and anger - besides it doesn't help that she's an adopted daughter of mother now proclaimed a Nagozulian princess by right of the marriage of our parents.”

”ohhhhh~” interrupted Karus laughing. ”Just remembered how red Grandmama's face boiled up after seeing her in her combat uniform all scary.”

”Plus, the fact that she's a Daomagarian clearly marks her as a target for insults and humiliations by most of the snobs here -y'know how it is here... right?”

”Yep,” nodded Karus now finishing his snickering, ”That's why it's best if she isn't around.”

”Though I kind of miss her lately,” followed Kayzar resting his chin on his palms remembering something, ”She has promised to teach me a lot of things and she really didn't even follow through on that promise, not even a single one...”

Silence ensued for a long time as the two brothers waited and the two chefs busily prepared the meal that they ordered. They cut and mixed and chopped the ingredients with remarkable style and grace that made the twins clap their hands several times from the wonderful sight of them throwing and cutting things in midair.

”So...” Madj broke the silence once again to give some small talk. ”...Where are the two of you going? Rushing in the city?”

”Yup. Me and Kayzar here are going on a little research slash interview to one of the locals there, Uncle Juni, I think you know him.”

”Yeah! That crazy old man!” she exclaimed grinning, ”What about?”

”We're looking for clues to Karus' condition.”

”Oh. Is it acting up again?”

”It's so weird but when I'm trying to ignite the air and create fire it starts to hurt - really really bad - but if I'm manipulating the air around it's not.”

”We have reason to believe that Karus is an Elemental Prodigy.”

”So, you're saying you can control wind and at the same time you can conjure fire?”

”I believe so, yes.”

”What!? I'm sorry to have heard that. I would have congratulated you, don't get me wrong, but you can get yourself killed for that kind of combination - fire and wind. I heard stories way back years ago that Fire-Wind Prodigies are being rounded up because they said that, theoretically, they can summon the mythical white fire. Like what happened a thousand years ago.”

”Yes, we know,” replied Kayzar. ”The White Demon or so they call it. The story suggests that someone with this power can enchant his whole body with the mythical white fire and incinerate everything that went close to him. We know this by rumors, but we really weren't sure if it existed.”

”You're lucky you are of royal descent. A commoner having found out about being a prodigy at that age would automatically be signing his death sentence. They could either end up being branded as an exile, thrown in the Palace's inner catacombs, or be killed by execution.”

”Oh, don't worry,” replied Karus. ”That's not really happening now. Our great-grandpa passed a law prohibiting that act tens of years ago, so we don't have to worry 'bout that. And besides, none of them knew this secret. I'm sure that we can trust you, right? That's why we told you about it.”

Kudos went near them as he laid the stew and the red meat at the table. ”I knew 'd story 'bout 'd Wayt Demon. Our great great great grandfa'der told his descendants 'dat 'dis myt'ical Wayt Demon massacred almost a t'ausand Nagozulian, Daomagarian, and Yagisivian all on its own in less 'dan t'ree minutes. Legend has it 'dat 'der'll be a second comin' of 'dis Wayt Demon and 'dat he'll be reborn to anod'er Nagozulian.”

”Wh-What?” said Karus with a frightened face.

”No, No. I'm juz' teasin',” laughed Kudos as he begins to serve large portions of meat at their plates. ”Ya 'shud've seen the look on 'yer faces!”

”Heh, no kidding,” he replied trying to force a grin on his face.

”But 'd massacre is true 'dow. 'Dat Wayt Demon is so powerful, he immediately incinerated a hundred feet radius from 'wer he's standing. Consequently, he died in 'd process. It's juz' nature's way of tellin' everyone 'ya can't play wid' fire'. Well, dig in! Hope you like mah' special recipe!”