The Scarlet Phoenix and the Prince of Winter

Chapter Eighty Four

"We w-what?" I asked again just in case I misheard him. "What did you just say? We fell in love with each other?"

Nievo nodded. He does not look pleased with what he revealed too, which was funny because if there was someone who should have that very reaction, that should be me. "That is what I saw in that accursed mirror. The two of us became lovers."

"I see... Is that why you left without a word? You don't want that to happen?"

He hesitated but then nodded. "I do not want that to materialize into reality, my dear deity, but only for one reason. I am still a mortal. I am not as strong as you and I saw in that future that the mirror showed me that I will become a burden to you. I do not want to impede your movement in any way. And I don't think that it was right to fall in love with a deity like you."

So that was his reason. I thought that he did not want to be with me for the reason that he did not like me. He just thought that it was not the right thing to do. Which was correct. Based on my personal experience, romance between two different beings would only result in chaos and tragedy. Witnessing my loved ones die once was enough for me. I don't want to relive it over and over again. 

"But lately I have been thinking, my dear deity... Why am I running from fate? I am a deity too, aren't I? So I will not die and disappear just like an ordinary human. I will become like you. I will live forever... So why am I worried about being with you? I like being with you. And I think that mirror really does show you the future because right now, here I am in front of you, admitting that I am in love with you."

I almost fell on my knees when I heard him say that. I watched him slowly walk towards me, and I could not do a thing. I wanted to walk away because all I knew about loving someone is that I will end up in wreckage again, but I cannot even move my legs. I wanted to scream at him, to tell him how bold and disrespectful he was for saying that to me, but I was petrified. I was not prepared for this. 

"We will not like your first love, Alfiora," he suddenly said trying to convince me to accept his love for me. "I am not going to die. I am Volo, right? It was what you said. And I believed you. That's why I am no longer running away, my dear deity. I have decided to follow what I really feel." His face was almost shining from the ray of light that was hitting him right now making this more intense. 

I know that he was serious. Nievo would not do this for fun or just because he was bored here. And I could see it in his eyes. The mesmerizing part of having human eyes is that you really can see what it holds in every important moment. Right now, his eyes reflected all the desire that he has for me, and I feel like I am being sucked in. He was closer and closer, and I could literally do nothing. 

What is happening to me?

I should have stopped his advances. I can knock him out right now if I want to. But all I can do right now is stare at him with my heart throbbing widely inside my chest. Nievo's face tilted towards mine, and as he was a little bit taller than me, I was looking up at him. "I am sorry if I am going to do this, Alfiora. But I can not hold it back anymore..."

And then he kissed me. A mortal just kissed me again, and even though he is technically Volo, I still can not believe that I have been kissed by a human again. Naturally, fear crept into me again as I started to worry about what might happen, so even if the kiss was not technically doing me harm, I pushed Neivo away from me. 

He did not look surprised that I pushed him away, but he still looked hurt. "Alfiora... I have been waiting for this day to come. Please, don't hate for what I did..."

"I don't want to hate you," I told him. "I really don't. I just want to think this over through..." I must have said the wrong thing because he suddenly looked more cheerful than earlier. 

"You are thinking it through... Does that mean that you are not against the idea of us becoming lovers? By any chance, do you like me too, Alfiora?"

I do not know what was happening to me when he asked me that silly question. Do I like him? I think yes, but to what extent? I am afraid that I might pout his hopes too high for such a silly thing. I am no longer the deity that cared so much. I had lived for hundreds of years now and that has taught me to ignore such mortal emotions. I didn't even have that kind of relationship with my followers. I have maintained and kept my distance, and I do not think that I can change that yet again. 

"It is okay if you cannot answer me right now," he then told me, smiling weakly at me but his eyes were glinting with the impending tears. He is still young, so I know why he is very emotional right now. "But please, let us not avoid each other after this."

I nodded, as that was the only thing that I can promise him. I then changed into my fiery bird form, and flapped my wings, and fly into the sky because I am like that. Whenever I am caught in a situation in which I can't choose between two options, I would rather fly away while I think of what to do next, and I hope Nievo could wait for me. 

***

It took me days before I had the courage to return to the Ritual Grounds. I stayed and locked myself at Mt. Kal Ayu, which was erupting and causing chaos to the outside world. I know that people were asking for my help, for the eruption to stop, but I could not do anything. I was so consumed with my emotions that I just decided to go with the lava flow. 

And then when I finally was able to pull myself together, I decided to go back to my followers. I found them meditating at the center of the ritual circle. They were patiently waiting for me and that was touching. "I am back," I said to them and they all opened their eyes and rejoiced when they saw me. 

"My dear deity! Thank you for finally coming back!" They were ecstatic to see me and that gave me the sign that something was wrong. And I was right, for after bowing at me, they all cried and wept. "We thought that you would never come back..."

"That is not going to happen," I said to calm them down. "I would never leave you like that without a warning."

"We thought that you were angry at Nievo for saying all of that he told you. We thought that you were trying to stay at the volcano for decades at the very least! We were brokenhearted!" It was Collette who was crying the most, and she seemed to be the one who was the happiest now that I finally returned. 

"How are you, everybody? And why are you here, Collette? I stationed you there at the mansion of the Forresters!"

She cried harder when I mentioned the place. "I had no choice but to come back here, my dear deity. There were so many things that happened simultaneously when you went to your home at the volcano. I had to save myself."

That intrigued me. "Why? What happened?"

Collette told me what happened. I gasped loudly when she told me that the young Queen had died, and someone murdered him. Now, the prime suspect of the deed was Nievo himself, who was the last to visit the unconscious Queen Hayana before she mysteriously died. A manhunt was immediately ordered by the King and that resulted in a kingdom-wide search. And the Forresters, who were the only ones who believed that Nievo was innocent, hid him at their mansion, but the King had learned of that and had ordered the capture of everyone who was part of helping Nievo hide from the Royal Guards. They are now jailed at the dungeon prison in the Palace while awaiting the date of their execution. It was only delayed because of the volcanic eruption that had caused several damages to the towns near the volcano. 

"What? No Way! They should not die! I have been gone for how many days and this amount of trouble has already happened?" And without further ado, I turned myself into my fiery bird form and flew to the sky. I will rescue Nievo and the Forresters with all my might. 

It did not take me long to arrive at the Palace. I landed on the balcony where the young Queen and I used to bond over wine, and I changed back into my human form. I walked and searched for the way towards the underground prison. It was lucky for me that I did not meet anybody on my way there, so when I arrived at the entrance of the dungeons the Royal Guards stationed there were surprised to see me. 

"M-My dear deity---!"

"Let me in," I said to the Royal Guard who looked terrified at my presence. "I said let me in!" I had to shout at them because they were not moving to open the gate to the underground prison. "You will open it or I will burn you two?"

That was the only tie that they scampered to follow my order. As soon as they open the huge steel gates, I went inside and searched for the cell where they locked Nievo and the Forresters. It was not hard finding them. They were at the last cell, crammed there like animals in a cage. The father and son tandem of the Forresters were sleeping when I arrived in front of their cell. They looked like they were heavily punished and I almost shouted with rage and fury when I saw their puffy faces and blackeyes. 

Then I saw Nievo, who looked like he was beaten up to death. Tears immediately fell from my eyes when I saw how bad he looked with his wounds and injuries. I thought that he was already half-dead because he was stiff as wood but then I saw him move his head a little in my direction. I think he sensed that someone was here. "Nievo! Nievo! Are you okay? What did they do to you? Why are you like that? Who made this to you?"

But Nievo was not responding. I was right. He was so weak that he couldn't even talk. Anger doubled inside of me and my hair and my arms caught fire. It made the dark and dingy prison become bright and warm, causing the other prisoners here to wake up and watch what was happening. I can also hear them talk and murmur to each other. Some of them had recognized who I was, so I heard them talk like they just got excited by what was happening.

"I told you, that guy was a servant of that deity! Now the King will be facing her wrath if he kills that guy! Serves him right!" said an old man at the neighboring cell. He sounded like he was rejoicing from my presence. 

"But he is no longer going to survive for what the King did to him. He killed the Queen, so it is only fair that he dies too!"

I looked at them and they cowered at the sight of my angered expression. "What did the King do to him?" I asked the old man. "Answer me!"

He went pale but he also managed to reply to me still. "The King let him fight in a Death Battle... It is a battle where a criminal is given the chance to fight for his life. But he had to defeat five Royal Guards who were veterans at fighting. I am sure that they did not show him mercy during the Death Battle. He deserves it!" 

"How dare you say that! Do you have evidence that he is the one who killed the queen?"

The old man did not reply and that was because someone was behind me. When I turned around I saw the King looking at me with an angered look on his face. "Why are you here, my dear deity? Why are you here at the dungeons? Are you going to free that murderer---?"

"Have you got any solid proof that he did it? That Nievo killed your wife?" I asked him directly. The King looked offended at what I asked him.

"With all due respect, my dear deity, but my wife was last seen with him---?"

"It does not prove anything!" I yelled at him. "Just because someone was seen with you does not mean that he is the only one capable of killing you! That is not a hard concept to grasp!"

I know that I made a big point, but the King did not look like he was willing to reconsider their judgment upon Nievo. "That is not something that I can control on my own anymore, my dear deity. It was the decision of the Council---"

"A decision which you can overturn!" I corrected him instantly. "But you did not do it, since you are blinded by your anger and grief from the death of the Queen! You wanted to punish someone immediately to handle the pain! And you think that is the right thing to do?"

"I simply can not free someone who has already been found guilty by the Council, my dear deity. The punishment had already been decided. He will be executed tomorrow---"

"HE IS VOLO! He is your great deity of winter! Are you still planning on killing him?"

But the King looked like he could no longer be reasoned out with. "If that is the case, then I would be doing him a favor, right? Because if I kill him now, he will finally return to us as a deity again. Then everything will be fine again."

"That is not how it works!" I said, enraged that he even had that idea in his mind. I could not believe that this was the same person who was very level-0headed and had led Aure into a greater status. This man right now had been engulfed by grief and sadness that he could no longer see sense. "But if that is how you are going to handle this mess, then you will be going against me!" I said and I turned into my fiery bird form again, ready to burn this whole Palace any second now.