The Scarlet Phoenix and the Prince of Winter

Chapter Ninety Six

When I heard his voice, I knew that everything would change. But I did not know that it was a 'change' that I will not be prepared for. All of us who heard Volo's voice stood frozen on our spots as if we were frozen solid by his winter powers. But we were just too surprised and overwhelmed that he was here, albeit just a disembodied voice too just like Kentan.

"Volo! Where are you?" I called him, looking around the corridors as if I did not know what was happening. Just like Kentan, I think he has no body yet as Kentan said that it will take a while before they can obtain a new body. He says that it has something to do with nature's capability to make a new body for them.

"I am here around you," he said to me. "Listen, Alfiora. You can't fight Kentan and the King. Please, retreat for now."

I have no intentions of fighting the King, or Kentan, but I was curious why Volo wanted me to avoid fighting with them. "Why? And what do you mean by that?"

"The Royal Family is under my wing, Alfiora. Problems between the two of us will arise if you hurt the King."

I heard the King himself chuckled at that. "That's right! Tell her, our great deity of winter! Tell her that she cannot touch me!" But he stopped talking big when I glared at him. He covered his mouth but he was still wearing a smug expression on his face.

"I have no plans of harming anyone, Volo," I shouted to him. I made sure that I was talking loud enough just in case he could not hear me properly. "But do you remember everything that has happened to you when you were Nievo, right?"

"Yes, I do Rainha."

"Then you would have remembered how the King treated you, right? How he accused you of killing the Queen?"

"What? Dear deity, are you really Volo, our great deity of winter?" The King could not hide his astonishment and the fear on his face right now. I wanted to scream at him 'I told you so' but stopped myself as there were more important matters right now that we needed to address.

"I was the man you tried to execute, my dear King."

The King suddenly went down on his knees and he started crying. "I am very sorry, my dear deity! I did not know that you were that man! I am not aware of such an event---!"

"I kept on telling you about it," I reprimanded the King who looked so flabbergasted from what he just learned. "I told everyone my theory that Nievo could be Volo. The Council believed me for a while before you made sure that I appeared to be making lies. You disgust me."

But the King did not respond to what I said. In fact, he was acting as if he could not hear me, so again, I was visited by the desire to smack him down to the floor. He was only talking to Volo's voice. "I put my faith in your word, my dear deity. You had made a vow to our family that you would never hurt us, that is why when I heard that you could be that man named Nievo, I refused to believe it. I rejected that idea because you promised to us--- to the Royal Family of the kingdom of Aure that you would never hurt us and will always protect us. You would oversee our welfare and make sure that we prosper. That is why in my eyes, I could not see you as that man who killed my wife---"

"Nievo never killed your wife!" I objected angirly. "Why do keep on pushing that idea? Nievo would never do that kind of thing!"

But again, the King was not talking to me. His attention was only with Volo. "I understand, my dear King. I know why you could not believe that I was Nievo."

"NO!" I yelled so loud that everyone thought that I was going to erupt like a volcano now. I was shocked and a little mad that Volo easily forgave the King. "How can you believe his obvious lies, Volo? He is clearly lying! Kentan is behind him, whispering to him his evil thoughts! The King is being influenced by Kentan! They were planning to get rid of you by killing you so that you will be reborn again as a human, and not as a deity!"

It took a while before Volo replied, while the King stood up again and glared at me. I still could not believe that he was treating me now this way like I was not a deity. I guess Kentan was also responsible for this. Kentan had succeeded in poisoning the mind of the King and I wished that Volo would notice this too.

"Alfiora, please stop this. I know everything that happened, but the last thing that I wanted right now is for us to disagree about something. Kentan and I will talk, so can you please wait for that before you do anything?"

I was taken aback by what he said. I could really not believe that he was acting so calm with this when he went through hell when he was Neivo because of these two ganging up on him. "Volo! What are you saying? Are you just going to let what they did to you slide---?"

"I have done them wrong too, Alfiora," he replied. "That is why I am trying to meet them halfway here."

I was starting to get angry with Volo too. "Why are you acting so lenient with them? And what did you do? What did you do that made you soft to them?"

"I will tell you everything, Alfiora, but first, let me talk to the two of them first. Please."

I hesitated, but then gave in to his request. I just thought that if Volo is willing to make peace with Kentan and the King too, then who am I to stop him? he is in no way obliged to follow my whims after all. He is a deity just like me, so he can do whatever he wants to do, even if he gets tricked, it is not my fault nor obligation to stop him anymore. So I finally nodded at him/. "Alright then, Volo. I will just have faith in you that you know what you are doing. And if something goes wrong, you can find me in my home. I will be waiting for you there before I go back into my hibernation."

"Thank you, Alfiora," he whispered softly to me and I can even picture his grateful smile in my mind as he said that to me even though he has no face to start with. "I'll see you after this."

"Just don't get tricked, Volo. If you claim that you know everything that's been going on,. then just think twice before you do something, alright? That is my advice to you." And with that, I spread my wings that are made of flames and walked back to the balcony where I came from. I flew to the sky with a heavy heart, and I don't even know why. Maybe I was disappointed with Volo. That after everything that the King and Kentan did to him, he was going to forgive them just like that. Or maybe I was disappointed that he seemed to give more importance to them, but I shook my head when I thought of that because I do not like where that train of thought was going.

But I would be lying if I say that it did not hurt, because it did. It hurt that Volo acted the way he acted back there, and before I could stop it, a single tear escaped from my right eye and it fell onto the ground, which I should have prevented because my tears are somewhat magical. Wherever it lands, it will give off some sort of power and if it goes to the wrong hands, it may become trouble in the future.

***

This was the first time that I woke up immediately after I went into that dreamland. When I woke up, I was still in the heap of snow on the ground, the cold making my whole body feel numb. I looked around and saw that Jack was no longer where I saw him land after I punched him, so that alerted my senses. I tried to find where he was in case he was still here, but it seems that he was no longer here. I think he escaped.

Then I remembered that both Calyx and Harvey were fighting Jack's men at the same time that Jack and I were in a confrontation, so I rushed to where they were fighting but just like Jack, they were no longer on that spot too. This scared me as it seems that I am now alone here. I wanted to go back inside Mistyland, but I am afraid that Jack and his men might still be there and that they might catch me again.

I pondered on what to do, and I realized that I needed to call for help. So what I did despite my numb body was to go to the town, which was the town of Carmel. I needed to be in a public place where no one would dare to attack me. I tried my best to run to the tunnel that would lead to Carmel, and thank goodness that I did not encounter any problem as I arrived at the town. I think the time is nearing daybreak, so there were no people outside of their houses right now. But I know a place where I could get some help, and it was the Health Pub here. I dragged my whole body to get there, but then I saw some Royal Guards running towards me.

"There is a woman there! She might be the criminal!" I heard one of them said, so I instinctively ran away from them but they were faster than me. One of them managed to grab me by the hand but I was able to push him. And to my surprise, the Royal Guard flew into somewhere as if he was hit by a comet. He crashed into a house with a loud thud far enough from where I was which scared the others.

"Be careful, she has powers! She can send you flying with an invisible force! That is why the others could not take her when she was still unconscious back at the crime scene!"

"Stop there, court servant! You are under arrest!" said the other one.

"Under arrest? I am not a criminal!" I shot back, though I think I should have expected this. Jack was nowhere to be found there, so maybe he escaped and told the whole kingdom something about me that warrants me this arrest?

"There is a report of you attacking the workers of the Colastone Mines! Your friends have been arrested already! Just surrender yourself now so that there will be no more problem for you!"

"And why would I surrender to you? I did nothing!" I insisted but they were not listening.

"The evidence against you is strong, Rainha Filbuster! Just turn yourself in!"

"There is no way that I will turn myself in over something that I did not do! Come and arrest me if you can!" I shouted at them with all my might because that is the only choice that I have right now. And that is to fight for my life and freedom.

The Royal Guards seemed to have hesitated, but then I noticed something. One of them has a crossbow too and he was loading it with an arrow. And the arrow in question has a tip that was glinting in the dark. Before I could avoid it, the Royal Guard shot me with the arrow that I think was laced with gold. It hit me in my chest.

They knew.

They already know that I was a deity in human form.

I fell backward as the impact of the arrow hitting me was strong. I coughed up blood and immeasurable pain registered in my mind as I felt my back hitting the cold snow.

Why do I always fall like this?

I almost kind of wanted to just die so that I get over this. And maybe when I become a deity again, just as I expected, then maybe no one could hurt me this way. Maybe I can have my revenge on all of them, especially on Jack who killed my Aunt. And then I will finish the King, who is behind all of this. I don't even care if he is the Crown Prince's father. All I want to do is use this pent-up energy inside of me to kill all of them.

That is why I wanted to die.

But someone came, and that someone saved me by shielding me from the upcoming arrows with his own body and I have never felt so relieved like this before. The Crown Prince was here, and that thought alone killed all my rage.