Creatures of the Light

Third Light

Third LightCreatures of the Light

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##### Third Light #####

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Hunger is like the flame

The more you provoke it, the more intense it shall burn

Hunger is like a void

You will do anything to fill the emptiness you are feeling

It will possess you

It will control you

Slowly demolishing your vindication

You will try and fight, but the force will be too strong

And by the end of the day, death is the answer to everything.

The day is blessed with light the moment we jump through the portal that connects the fire dimension to the human world. And I know exactly which location to pick for the landing place.

The waxen building is rather crowded this noon, surrounded by miles and miles of lively, green trees. It is still elegant as the last time I was there, with vines growing on the walls and surface of the high walls are as smooth as they can be. A field of green grass is also laid around the building, making it look even lovelier, like a castle in a fairytale.

But I know that the resident is nothing like a fairytale in reality, as there is nothing nice there.

Much.

Among the blonde heads and so many bright faces that are gathering in the crowd, my eyes can spot one that I truly seek almost as instantly. And almost at the same time, those eyes catch a glimpse of my figure as well.

He does not look as surprised as I expect him to be at first, as if he does not recognize who I am at all. But then he begins to register the shape of my face, and how it is supposed to be when I am smiling, which is rare to happen before because lately I just feel like smiling as easily as breathing. Right after realizing that the girl standing across the grass field, which is only around ten meters away from him, that he begins to panic.

I walk ahead, gaining a few gasps of shock as a few heads are starting to turn towards me when they notice my arrival. Banri walks beside me, but keep a few steps behind once I reach near Valline.

He opens his mouth and the first words that come through are, “What are you doing here at this place?”

Although the words sound cold and rather harsh, it does not bother me at all. Instead, I just beam at him as I leap towards him.

“To meet my dear husband, of course,” I say as I wrap my arms around his waist for a hug, placing my head on one of his shoulders casually. His presence brings comfort to me, along with his sweet, natural scent.

He is like a piece of heaven to me.

“I haven’t seen you in a while, and I just cannot help but I’m missing you really bad.” I close my eyes to embrace the amenities of having Valline against me. “I have decided that doing nothing won’t do any good for us, so I came.”

“You decided to come here? Alone?” Valline sounds concerned.

“No, of course not. Banri is here as well,” I answer as I pull away for a couple of inches, not breaking the hug, just to turn my head to Banri’s direction, who is standing a few meters back with a blank expression on his face. Then I turn my head back to Valline, his radiant blue eyes intensely staring back at the similar pair of eyes that I own now.

“You surprised me. I thought you were someone else when first land my eyes on you,” he admits.

“Oh really? And is that someone else that pretty that you eye at her for so long?” I ask teasingly.

“To be honest, yes. You were like the Goddess of the Sun, appearing out of nowhere as the sun shines upon you, making you glow. Especially with your current looks.” He brushes a strand of my hair to the back of my ear. “But it was not just me, but the rest of my family was also dazzled by you. And I think they still are.” With that, we both finally turn our attention to the rest of the crowd.

They all stare at me as if I am some sort of a newly-discovered animal in a zoo. But I only have one wizard in my eyes. Valline might already realize who it is, or even probably hasn’t, but I have done some private investigations as well.

“Tell me, what is the cure to this,” I confront him as I eye him sharply.

He is the one who did this to me, planned it all along, so he must know the answer to that question. But instead, he just laughs at me, as if I am the poorest thing that has ever existed on Earth.

Playing rude, is he? Well, so can I.

“Tell me, Lylle, how does it feel like to have your father gone?“ I say casually as if I were chatting about the weather instead of a very sensitive topic for him, while keeping a radiant smile on my face.

The young man clenches his teeth in anger, his chest rising up and down at a quick pace. He shoots me a daggering look, knowing perfectly well who the killer of his father is. And that is one of the reasons why he went so far in poisoning my drink, which turned me into looking like a core family member of the Blancort.

Everyone is staring at us, including Valline. But it seems like no one has any idea of what is actually going on. They still do not know why a girl who looks like them, who they have never seen before, claimed to be their King’s wife and suddenly is confronting one of their family members.

“You must have felt horri─” I continue when he doesn’t budge, but is cut short immediately by his snapping.

“Don’t you dare talk about my father, you murderer!” He spats with venom. “And I should have used much deadlier poison on you, if I had known.”

“Lylle! So it was you,” Valline exclaims with shock and fury at the same time.

“It was him who what?” A girl asks. Jullie, Marlyn’s daughter, appears from her mother’s side, looking curious. Marlyn only glares at us with her old eyes, posing still like how a calm noblewoman does.

“He caused Arsene’s chance,” he accuses as he points a finger at Lylle.

“That’s your wife?!” An older man exclaims in surprise, clearly has not recognize previously. But it is not just him. Almost everyone in the crowd is shocked to hear this. They must have thought me of someone else, but they thought that Valline will hug and touch another woman besides me?

I can not let their reactions break my concentration, though. I have to find out what the antidote to this is.

“Tell me what the cure is,” I demand at Lylle.

“Ha! Like I would!” he says mockingly at me.

“Or else,” I add.

“Or else you will what?” He raises one of his eyebrows, making it crook in an ugly way, challenging me.

In an instead, Valline has him pinned to the ground with his laser light. The laser pushes him down to the ground intensively, making the others jump back a couple of steps just to get away from getting pinned as well.

“Or else, I will do something you might regret for the rest of your life for not telling for,” Valline threatens him.

Despite being held down and threatened by his own king, Lylle only chuckles darkly at me. “If you think that even I know that, think again. I merely ordered the maid to deliver the drink to you. You should have asked the one that made the potion instead.”

“And who might that be?”

He throws his gaze back to the crowd, directing to where Jullie and Marlyn are standing. Everyone follows the direction of his gaze, and I crook an eyebrow.

“Marlyn?!” Valline gasps in surprise. Everyone is staring at her, but she only shows a confused look on her face.

“No,” I mutter as I walk forward and stand in front of the two witches. Marlyn stares at me, having no idea of what is going on. My eyes gaze passes her, to the one besides her. “It was you who made the change potion, right, Jullie?” I ask as I look at her in the eyes, while the other gasps in shock.

She shows no emotion at first, but then she starts to crack as her pretty face shows a heinous look, making her look ugly with it.

“....That can’t be. Whatever potion they are talking about, you can’t be the culprit, right, Jullie?” Marlyn, her mother, asks. But as she looks into her daughter’s eyes, she knows that Jullie is the real mastermind in this.”But honey, why?” she asks sadly.

Jullie glares at her own mother ruthlessly. “Why? Why, you ask?” she grouses coarsely. Then suddenly she throws her head at me, her eyes stare at me wildly. “It was because of her!” She points a finger at me accusingly. “Our family was perfect, until she showed up, tainting our bloodline with her black one. The Blancort was known to have the purest descendants, until she was discovered to be married to our king. What do you think will happen if we let them cross-breed again? Another mist wizard will appear, and we will all be doomed once again. Have you all forgotten what it was like when the mist wizard appeared? He kidnapped one of us and forced her to breed another mist wizard with one of the Noirmelns’. I don’t want history to repeat itself again, mother. That is why I did this. To stop them from bringing another mist wizard into this world.”

Jullie is breathless by the time she finishes. My lips stay in a thin line for the whole time, but Valline does not take this offense lightly.

“Watch what you’re saying, Jullie. This is your queen as well that you are speaking to. I will not tolerate anyone who insults my wife, let alone endanger her. And this does not only apply to you, but everyone,” he asserts as he sweeps his eyes to the rest of the crowd, before returning to her again furiously. “Don’t think your sins will go unpunished.” Valline looks a God himself when he is angry. His blue eyes will burn with so much intensity, they start to glow like his powers are going to burst out any moment. His skin also glimmers as well, heavily curving the air with his light.

“I am not afraid of your punishment, My King. That is why I did this in the first place. I do not care about the punishment, but the result of my actions,” Jullie replies sternly, which only makes Valline angrier.

“So you 're telling me that you do not regret crossing the line?” he asks through clenched teeth.

“No. And I will go through your punishment.” She holds such a strong and determined look in her eyes, making me sure that she believes what she did was right. But it is not. Changing me is not the solution to this matter.

“Then tell me how to change Arsene back to normal,” Valline demands.

“That I can not tell you.”

“Do you realize what you’re up against if you don’t start talking? You will receive worse punishment, and I can assure you that it will be much more horrible than your death.”

“It does not matter. Because even if you force me to talk, I can not tell you. I already use a spell to make all the proof I have left to disappear from the surface of the world, and to erase my memory related to it as well.”

Her words hit us like a bolt of thunder, cleaving an endless abyss for us to fall. Now that is a very dead end. How am I supposed to return back to normal now?

I will stay like this forever, never in my true form. And it just never feel the same. My personality is also changing. I will never be the same wizard I once was.

“How about your memory search?” Banri suddenly suggests. “You can search through her memory by using your powers....”

“....Which I already lost,” I finish for him. “When I changed, so did my powers. And the powers I have now is not the same as the one I used to possess,” I explain. Then, I turn to Valline. “There might be a chance that I will never turn back to normal,” I say sadly as tears start to roll from my eyes.

He approaches me quickly and pulls me to a hug. “Don’t cry, Arsene. I will figure something out. There has to be a way. We just don’t know what it is yet.”

From behind Valline, Marlyn moves forward, her steps wary. Then, she does something that is very surprising. Not just to me, but to everyone. She bows lowly to me with full respect, her face shows deep regret.

“I am so sorry for what my daughter had done. I am truly ashamed,” she apologizes to me.

Valline pulls away from me and turns to her. “If you really regret your daughter’s action, then help us find the antidote.”

“Yes, I will,” she replies obediently, once again bow to not only me, but also her king ─ her leaders.