I held out my hand as a sharp gust of wind flung from it, slicing the target in two.
"Yay, I did the thing!" I cheered, jumping for joy as I had officially mastered my third spell!
So, it's been a few days since the... incident and so far, everything's been great. Nothing bad has happened, and everything is going according to plan. Besides, with Minh being paranoid as usual, I spent my time wisely. Over the past week, I'd been practicing my magic skills, and currently, I just mastered my third spell!
Yay me!
Anyway, I haven't been able to talk with Althea a lot recently, probably because she's busy with being a princess and stuff; I just hope she isn't overworking herself; that wouldn't be good. Also, Minh has been awfully clingy since last week. I mean I get he's worried about me getting jumped or something, but honestly, it gets kinda annoying sometimes.
I flipped to the next page of my book, looking over my next spell, "This one is a fire spell; I should be careful," I mumbled as I read the details. Holding the book in one hand and holding out my other hand, I recited the words in the text, "ςιγν𝔄λ-σ𝔓𝔄ρ𝔎."
Small sparks appeared from my hand, flickering in and out, then coming together to form an amber-colored flame that shot up into the sky exploding like a firework. Pretty. It's like the fireworks back home but without the noise.
Soon after I cast the spell, I heard someone running towards me. It was Eugene; I hadn't seen him in a while.
"Hi, Eugene, how are you?" I called out, closing my book and waving to him as he stopped in front of me.
"I'm doing well, thank you for asking; I rushed over because I saw a flare signal being set off here. Is everything alright?"
So he was worried. Nice.
"I'm doing fine, just practicing a new spell," I explained, holding my book up to show him.
He took the book, examining it for some reason, and then he looked at me, "I wasn't aware you were adept in celestial arts."
"This isn't celestial arts, this is Graphien."
"Graphien? I don't recall there being such a thing," he said.
Oh, right, Graphien isn't well known. I took back the book, opening it to a random spell.
I held out my hand and recited the spell, "λℑγℌτ."
A small ball of glittering light formed in the palm of my hand, sparkling in the sunlight. I showed it off to Eugene as he stared at it. Or at least, I think he was staring at it. It's hard to tell when he always wears a helmet. I closed my palm, shattering the light between my fingers, and let tiny speckles of stardust float up into the air and disappear.
I smiled proudly at my handy work, "It's pretty cool, right?"
"Indeed it is," he paused for a moment, then said, "Ahem, your ability will be a great asset to us in the future."
"Right... I'll do my best..."
Has Althea not told him yet? I looked at him. Let's hope Althea tells him soon; if she doesn't, the plan will probably go to shit.
"Also," Eugene went on, " I would like to advise you not to show off your abilities to others. You never know who could be watching."
"Oh, right, I'll keep that in mind," I said, watching Eugene walk away.
As he did, he took off his helmet, turning back to me. He had tanned skin with black hair tied in a bun, his golden eyes staring at me. Holy shit that's what he looks like? Also, what are you staring at me for? His stare turned into a smile, winking at me before putting his helmet back on and leaving.
Oh! He knows! So she did tell him, kinda weird way to tell me, but that's probably fine.
Looks like the plan is going smoothly after all. I looked at the Graphien book, I should give this back to Minh later. That's enough training for today. I close my book and head inside.
And, I got lost again. Who's idea was it to make this castle so damn big?! I've been running in circles for hours! I continued wandering around the god-forsaken halls of this stupid castle until I came across a door that I hadn't seen before.
Sometimes I wonder if this place creates new rooms just to mess with me.
I opened the door revealing a study. It kinda looked like a mini version of Althea's office. Cute. I let myself in, looking around the small space. No one was there, so it was probably fine to wander around a bit. The room with one single desk in the middle had only one window, and the walls were filled with books. I took a seat at the desk, leaning back in the chair.
Now that I thought about it, I realized I hadn't seen Minh all day. Normally he'd follow me around to 'make sure I wasn't doing anything stupid'. But, that day I hadn't seen him since this morning.
On the one hand, being followed everywhere I went was pretty annoying, but on the other hand, it was kinda nice. It reminded me of when we were tiny; Minh would always follow me around, play games with me, and we'd do everything together.
But nowadays, all he does is boss me around, nagging like he was the one who gave birth to me or something, and spending almost his entire life alone indoors, doing - I don't know, studying?
Damn it, god, give my brother back to me and take that demon you replaced him with while you're at it!
I sighed, laying my head on the desk. As I continued to sulk, I heard footsteps outside. Wow, the soundproofing in this place is terrible.
I get up and tiptoed to the closed door, putting my ear against it.
"Your majesty, how long will it be before we sacrifice those heroes?"
"We must wait a bit longer, not until the end of the Spring banquet."
"Do you think we can afford that?! The Glorian army are knocking at our borders, we can't afford to wait any longer!"
"Commander! Watch your tongue, if your troops truly can wait then sacrifice a few of them to buy time."
"Y-your Majesty, surely you're not suggesting."
"I have said this before, we must give the people reassurance, otherwise the consequences will be dire. As the Commander of the first order, I assume you know how important moral is."
"Y-yes, Your Majesty."
"Then you are very aware of our situation. You need not be concerned, I and Duke Maris will come up with a temporary solution, you and your troop must hold on until then. Is that clear?"
"… Yes, Your Majesty."
"Very well, you will return to your post until further notice."
"Understood Your Majesty."
Holy shit, we're in big trouble.
-------------------------------------------------------
Where is she?!
I'd checked the courtyard, the garden, the library, I'd almost flipped this entire castle upside down, I even asked the guards, but nothing! All my efforts went in vain as usual. Phuong has to be somewhere!
I speed-walked down the corridors of the palace, opening any door that wasn't locked. I soon stopped doing that because... ahem, it led to some awkward circumstances. Moving on, after a few minutes I came across a door that didn't look like a servant's room- hopefully it wasn't- and opened it.
The room was empty. Bookshelves everywhere. Seriously, the person who designed this castle either lives in a library or just loves books. I personally don't get the hype.
Anyway, as soon as I entered, I heard a small peep from the desk. Now I know that desks don't usually make small peeping sounds as far as I know, so I guessed someone was there. If not, then I might need to see a doctor and most likely a psychiatrist. I walked towards the desk and looked under it.
Before I knew it, the only thing I heard was, "NOT TODAY SATAN!" before a ball of fire was shot at my head.
Luckily I dodged it before I was torched like the convicted women of witchcraft in the fifteenth century. I soon recovered from my prior shock and looked over to find my very own sister to be my attacker. The betrayal.
I glare daggers at her. If I could glare into her soul I would, but I doubt there are any thoughts behind those eyes. She looked away from me, reaching out to fix the part of my hair that frizzled up from the fire.
"Sorry."
"Fuck you."
"Yeah, I deserved that one."
"Taking responsibility for once, color me surprised," I scoffed
"Okay, now you're just being an asshole," she retorted
"An asshole who almost got burned alive."
"..... touche," she conceded, coming out from under the desk.
I got up, crossing my arms in annoyance. I'd never emulated my mother more. All a long while, Phuong had been fidgeting for quite a while, like to a concerning amount.
I exhaled, "What is it now? I swear if it's something stupid I will punch you."
Phuong remained silent for a few moments, tugging on her shirt and still avoiding my staring. Okay, stop that. You look like I'm convicting you for a felony.
The silence continued. Alright, now I'm starting to feel bad. If she's this panicked, then something bad's happened. I could A, make fun of her until she tells me on her own, or B, interrogate her until she confesses. Which one to choose? I took a deep breath. Well, option C is always there, unfortunately.
Okay, let's do this. I opened my arms and pulled her into a hug. God, I hate it when I have to do this. Phuong wrapped her arms around me, squeezing me tightly. Surprisingly, she didn't suffocate me like usual; looks like she picked the passive route this time.
"What's wrong?"
"Hm?"
"Don't Minecraft villager me, tell me what's wrong," I asked.
She looked down, letting go of me, and stepped back.
This was new.
She looked up at me, fiddling with her hands. I could smell the fear. I mean not literally, it was very obvious on her face and- you know what you get what I mean.
I watched her take a deep breath and blurt out, "They're sacrificing people to power the Golem!"
... I'm sorry, the who and the what?
Side Story Dated - 15 yrs
A Moment of Calm
Whoever said being home alone is great is a liar.
There was nothing to do, nowhere to go because we couldn't leave the house, and the worst part, we've run out of snacks. It was gonna be a long break.
I sat on the deck in the yard, bird-watching; there was nothing better to do anyway.
I kept watching the birds, after a while, I heard someone coming up behind me, it was Minh. He sat beside me, munching on some cereal. I reached over and grabbed a handful and stuffed it in my mouth. The taste was plain but better than nothing. We both sat in silence, eating the last of the cereal. I leaned onto him, resting my head on his shoulder as a warm breeze passed by. I closed my eyes, taking in the fresh air.
After the wind left, I opened my eyes, turning my gaze to Minh who looked too tired to care about anything.
"Wanna go inside?" I asked
"Yes, very much."
"'Kay," I say, standing up and heading inside, with Minh following close behind.
He closed the back door as I flopped onto the couch, spreading my limbs out in a stretch.
"Quit manspreading," Minh scolded, slumping down next to me.
"I can manspread whenever I want," I hmphed
He rolled his eyes, "Have it your way."
Grabbing the remote, he turned on the TV. Clicked through show options on crunchy roll, putting the cereal box on the table.
"Wanna rewatch Kono suba?"
"Sure, we have nothing else to do," I shrug.