Magical World: The Chosen One

Chapter 4

A gust of wind ruffled her white sundress and blew off her straw hat. The hat tumbled through the air, coming to rest at the young king's feet. Toche had jumped up to retrieve the flighty headwear, but froze when he saw who had caught the troublesome hat.

Charlotte was laughing and then her eyes met with his. She stood and took a few steps forward. "Ah, Elijah!" She looked around, as though uncertain as to what to say. "I didn't have anything to do today, so I-"

He cut her off as he ran to her and swept her into a giant hug. He held her up off the ground so her head was close to his. Feeling a rush of joy, he buried his face into her caramel-colored hair and he whispered her name again. His happiness intensified as he felt her arms circle around the back of his head and she murmured his name as well.

"Elijah, I've missed you."

With those four words, he felt complete. Everything was finally right in the world and so he said nothing and just held in his arms the one thing he wanted to protect the most.

They stayed like that for several minutes, just enjoying the warmth of the sunlight, the slight breeze, and their closeness to one another. Eventually, Elijah realized that he would have to let go of the girl in his arms, so he slowly put Charlotte on the ground, but did not move his arms away from her.

She looked up at him with sparkling eyes and a small smile on her lips. Suddenly, he felt compelled to be closer, to show her exactly how much he had missed her. He leaned down, bringing his face right next to hers, letting their breath mingle in the shrinking space between them. The young girl closed her eyes in anticipation and he could feel his heart racing.

"Mr. Elijah!"

He looked up with mild annoyance over the top of Charlotte's head, but held her against his chest, helping to hide her red face and wide eyes until she could settle down from the sudden outburst.

Several of his loyal retainers were at the top of the stairs. Marty and Tail enthusiastically approached, while Harry followed at a steady pace.

"What is it?"

Tail walked forward, his brown robes aflutter, with the slightly rotund Mark just behind him. "We need to make a report about a space-time anomaly."

This drew all of Elijah's attention, and he walked over to meet them, keeping Charlotte's hand tightly clasped in his. "What space-time anomaly?"

Mark began to explain, "It was discovered on The Day of the Future. For the past few months it has been - oh my, if it isn't the princess!"

Tail also moved in closer, "My Lady, we did not know you would be visiting!"

From slightly behind Elijah, Charlotte smiled and gave a little wave. Elijah moved forward to confront both retainers. "What about the anomaly?"

Marty cleared his throat and continued. "Ahem! As I was saying, it was discovered on The Day of the Future. Since then it has been dormant - reacting to nothing, with no physical changes."

"Today," Harry cut in assuredly, "It began to discharge energy as lightning. In the past few hours, the strikes have increased in strength and frequency. The anomaly itself has also started to grow in size."

"Take us there," their king commanded. All three retainers looked hesitantly at Charlotte, but time was of the essence. "Quickly!"

"Yes, sir!" They all headed down the stairs to the main part of the palace.

When they reached the edge of the palace walls, Elijah paused. He bent down slightly and held out his arms to his beloved. "Now, we fly. Come, Charlotte."

With her slight frame braced against him, they took to the sky, floating with Mark, Tail, and Harry to the edge of the city.

Any time-space anomaly could be potentially dangerous. Heavenly Beings would become cursed if they manipulated space-time. Luckily, the Outsider Griffin had taken the brunt of the space-time curse instead of the young king when Giovanni had tried to abduct Charlotte's town.

Now there were no outsiders to prevent Heavenly Beings from breaking through space-time, but the threat of the curse kept them at bay.

Looking down at the young girl in his arms, he felt a slight uneasiness.

She was the sole person from the Lower World that had demonstrated the ability to break through time-space. While she seemed to suffer no ill effects from that particular brand of magic, he was not willing to take any unnecessary chances.

"Elijah, here it is!" The three retainers dropped down the ground as he landed and let Charlotte slide out of his arms.

The distortion was a black, amorphous blob, in constant, shifting motion. The surface was slick, with a blue sort of luminesce, like oil. White electricity rippled on the outside, striking out at any nearby object. The lightning produced a sharp, crackling noise as each strike landed.

Eljah moved Charlotte behind him, in the event of a stray lightning bolt. "What is it?" she asked softly.

"It is an abnormality in the space-time continuum." He gestured for her to stay put. "Not quite a hole to another dimension, but not from this dimension either."

The lightning subsided and he took the opportunity to take a closer look. The anomaly started to hum, although it could have also been a buzzing noise.

"Elijah," The girl's voice was laced with worry. He did not need to be told twice.

"Everyone, back away. I think it's going to-"

Lightning arced everywhere, strong electrical strikes landing on every square inch. The air was singed with heat, obliterating all traces of moisture.

There was no time. Elijah grabbed Charlotte and forced her onto the floor, shielding her with his body.

A second later, pain shot up his back and then spread throughout his body. Every muscle clenched and each cell screamed in agony as the electricity surged up and down his spine. The clothing on his back was hot, burning hot, but he stayed still, covering her.

From his position on the floor, he struggled to raise an arm. Red energy gathered around his palm. He fired shot after shot of energy blasts at the space-time entity.

The lightning started to die down and Elijah was able to raise up enough to aim properly. He maintained constant firepower on the space-time blob, and slowly, but surely, the space-time abnormality started to fade away.

Within a minute, only some minor flecks floating in the air were all that remained. Using the last of his energy, he created some fire and these remnants went up in smoke.

With the threat handled, he allowed himself to drop to his knees. Charlotte ran up to support him. "Elijah!" Weary from the attack, he leaned against the girl.

"Call for...Serena..." he managed to say through gritted teeth.

"This is...more damage...than I can...heal on...my own." He was breathing hard and heavy as Charlotte relayed his instructions to Marty and Tail. His two retainers made off with great haste to summon the healer. Harry stayed behind in case there were further instructions.

Elijah was vaguely aware that she was looking over the wounds on his back, and he could feel her shaking slightly. "I wish there was something I could do for you. It looks so painful."

"As long...as you...are safe..." Elijah smiled tiredly, but then he grimaced as a wave of pain washed over him. Blackness crept in at the corner of his vision and stole away his consciousness.

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