Descendant

Chapter 7: Unexpected Visit

It was a normal morning. The day after Guillen and Zeal saw each other last night. As usual, Guillen and Chloe got up early because it was a school day. They changed into their school uniforms and did their usual routine on the way to school.

They got inside the classroom, and there was Zeal, silently sitting in his chair, but this time he was wearing the proper uniform.

"I forgot my books in my locker." Said Guillen.

"Go on get it before class starts." Chloe replied.

Guillen went to get her books.

"Well someone's being obedient today." Chloe said to Zeal.

"I don't have time for your sarcasm witch. I have to get ready for the exam today." Zeal replied.

"What?! We have an exam today?!" Chloe replied.

"Yes, it is to be held right after we pass the assignment that the teacher gave." Zeal said with a straight face.

"RIGHT AFTER THE WHAT NOW?!" Chloe replied.

"You should really learn to pay attention witch." Zeal said.

Guillen was getting her books from her locker. She was walking back to the classroom when she dropped some of her books. As she picks it up, someone lends her a hand. It was an old man.

"You need to be careful young lady." The old man said.

"Hehe I can be really clumsy sometimes." Guillen replied.

"Well you go on now, you're going to be late to class." The old man said.

"Yeah I'll be on my way now, Thankyou!" Guillen replied.

Guillen went back to their classroom.

"What took you so long?" Chloe said.

"I dropped some of my books on the way here, luckily there's an old man who helped me pick them up." Guillen replied.

Chloe and Zeal looked at each other for a short moment. Both of them felt a presence while Guillen was out to get her books.

Zeal stood up and went outside to check the hallways.

"Where's he going? Class is about to start." Guillen asked.

"Maybe he went to go to the bathroom, speaking of bathroom I need to go too,wait for me here ok?!" Chloe said as she rushed outside the classroom.

"Wait! Chloe! Class is about to start!" Guillen said.

"That girl acts really weird sometimes." Guillen continued.

Chloe went to look for Zeal. She saw him walking around the hallway of the school. He's moving carefully, checking every corridor.

"Someone we don't know was definitely here." Chloe said.

"An old man.. he definitely had a presence, but it's different from the one who paid us a visit at the mansion." Zeal replied.

"Maybe he was trying to hide it." Chloe said.

"I don't know. But something feels off." Zeal replied.

"Go back to the classroom, stay close to the Queen." Zeal continued.

"Ok, be careful. Come back once you're done here." Chloe replied.

After checking ever corridor, Zeal found nothing. He decided to come back to the classroom room when suddenly he felt something eerie.

"Here boy"

Someone spoke, the voice was coming from behind. Zeal turned around and saw an old man. He had long white hair; he was holding an orb with a skull inside and a dark aura surrounding him.

Zeal quickly released his sword and switched to his fighting stance. Chloe felt it but was hesitant to go where Zeal is because she can't leave Guillen in case something happens.

"Who are you?!" Zeal asked.

"I just came to see how the Queen is doing." The old man replied.

"What business do you have with the Queen?! You don't look like a dark creature but I could definitely sense something bad and I am not liking it." Zeal said.

"You sure you want to do that here? Causing a scene would cause you a lot of trouble." The old man said.

Zeal casted a barrier to minimize damage as much as possible if they were to fight.

"I don't fight without a plan. You're either gonna get out of here or I'm gonna drag you out." Zeal said.

"You've grown strong boy, but not strong enough."

The old man said.

Suddenly a strong pressure weighted down on Zeals body. The wind was vibrating; he fell on his knees; he could not move a muscle, he could not breathe. Its as if he was facing a huge monstrous demon. He felt so small, scared, and intimidated.

After a few moments, the pressure stopped

Zeal was stunned, he was too stunned to speak.

"Well then! I have other things to do so I'll be on my way." The old man slowly vanished into the shadows. Before he completely vanished he said something.

"And one more thing, someone is coming your way."

The old man was gone. Zeal inhaled and exhaled deeply to calm himself. His hands were shaking, for the second time after the incident with the old man at the mansion, he felt weak.

After class Guillen and Chloe saw Zeal on his knees. He was covered in sweat. Guillen ran towards him to help him get up.

"Are you ok? What happened to you?"

Guillen asked worried about Zeal.

"Did someone bully you?" Guillen continued.

"Let's take him to the clinic." Chloe said.

The two carried the weak Zeal to the clinic.

"Let me get you a bottle of water." Guillen said as she rushed outside to go to the cafeteria.

"What happened?" Chloe asked.

"The old man.." Zeal said.

"What about him? Who is he?" Chloe asked.

"I don't know, but he was something else, something I've never felt before. He did not even raise a finger yet he managed to get my down on my knees." Zeal said.

Chloe was shocked. He knew Zeal for a long time; he was strong and was not the type who would back down from anyone, let alone get him on his knees, so she could not

even begin to comprehend how strong the old man was.

"Got you down on your knees without even raising a finger huh, he sounds troublesome."

Guillen went back to give Zeal a bottle of water.

"Here, drink some water." Guillen said.

"Thankyou" Zeal replied.

"I need to go buy something, I'll leave you two here for a while." Chloe said.

"Ok be careful out there" Guillen replied.

"Let me know if you need anything." Guillen told Zeal.

Zeal fell asleep at the clinic and Guillen was there by his side the whole time.

Zeal woke up and saw Guillen fall asleep at the side of his bed. He looked at Guillen and thought of how innocent she was. She lay there with her glasses that she had forgotten to take off, and her bangs slightly falling to the side of her face. Zeal slightly smiled because she reminds him of a time when he knew nothing of the horrors that he now faces; she reminds him of the innocence that he lost a long time ago.

Guillen slightly opened her eyes as she woke up. She slowly looked at Zeal, who was calmly looking at her with a slight smile on his face.

She suddenly got up.

"Oh my Gosh I fell asleep I'm sorry!" Guillen said feeling embarrassed.

"It's ok, we both got our rest, nothing bad about that." Zeal replied.

"How are you feeling?" Guillen asked.

"I feel ok now, it's already late, let's go home." Zeal said.

"It's ok, you go on and head back home. You should get some more rest, I'll wait for Chloe to get back here we'll go home together." Chloe replied.

Chloe checked her phone and saw a message from Chloe.

"I'll be late, you go head back home with Zeal tell him to be a dear and walk you home, enjoy!!"

When Guillen read the text, she whispered, "This girl can be a real pain sometimes."

"What wrong?" Zeal asked.

"Oh.. it's nothing.. It's just that, Chloe texted and told me she'll come home late and I don't even know where she is we're both new here and I don't know where she goes everytime she goes out." Guillen replied.

"Is she not coming home with you?" Zeal asked.

"No, i don't think she is." Guillen replied."

"Let's go home together then, we go have same route and it's dangerous here for a lady like you to go home alone." Zeal said.

Guillen slightly smiled because Zeal was being such a gentleman and she always felt safe around him.

"Ok, let's go head back home together." Guillen replied.

The two took a trip home and Zeal walked Guillen the rest of the way to her apartment.

Meanwhile..

Chloe rushed to the mansion to look for manuscripts that would give her a clue on who Zeal and Guillen had met. When it comes to research, Chloe never misses. She spent her whole life researching cultures, magics and anything that would help her know about the past and adapt to the new generation as well. She has a large collection of books stored in a big library inside the mansion.

Chloe looked and looked for hours but couldn't seem to find out about what Zeal described, "A man who managed to get me down on my knee without even raising a single finger."

After hours of looking, he found a book about the history of the dark kingdom. She read it for another couple of hours and found something.

In the book there's a three-page mentioning a powerful king before Date Manu.

"He who balances dark and light. He who have given peace to the dark kingdom for many generations. A king so powerful and praised by many. The first ruler of the dark Kingdom."

That was the only words that described the King before datu Manu.

Chloe had known the history of the three kingdoms but was limited to the three Datu she knew because at the time, manuscripts about the dark kingdom's history were not to be studied.

Zeal went home and felt Chloe's presence. He went to the library to see Chloe.

"I thought I told you to stay with the queen at all time." Zeal said.

"Oh come on grandpa you were there and I was expecting you to walk her home, did you?" Chloe asked.

"Of course I did." Zeal said.

"Well that's an achievement want me to give you a medal?" Chloe replied.

"What are you doing here?" Zeal asked.

"Here look at this, do you know him?"Chloe asked.

"No, I don't think so." Zeal replied.

"Look closely, do you recognize the hair?" Chloe said.

"!!"

Zeal realized that it was the same old man who he had seen.

"He's one interesting person." Chloe said.

"Who is he?" Zeal said.

"He who balances dark and light. He who have given peace to the dark kingdom for many generations. A king so powerful and praised by many. The first ruler of the dark Kingdom." Chloe said, waving her hands in the air as if telling a bed-time story.

"This isn't the time for jokes witch, who is he?"

"Well, someone's excited." Chloe replied.

"The first ruler of the Dark kingdom, that's all the description about him in the book. No name, background, nothing." Chloe continued.

"I have a feeling something big is about to happen." Zeal said.

"You said it, the queen still shows no sign. So we still need to be careful if something comes up." Chloe replied.

"We need to find the first king, he knows something." Zeal said.

"Woah hold your horses cowboy, did you forget what just happened? The guy brought you to your knees with presence, the force is strong with this one." Chloe said.

"The force?" Zeal asked.

"Yeah! it's from a famous mov- you know what? never mind." Chloe said.

"Let's just gather information about the First king first." Chloe continued.

"Very well." Zeal replied.

"I'm gonna head on home cause being with you this long is making me really dizzy." Chloe said sarcastically.

"You be careful witch, who knows when that old man will appear again." Zeal said seriously.

"I will, you be careful too." Chloe replied.

Chloe went home where Guillen was waiting for her.

"Where have you been? It's late!" Guillen said.

"Nothing I just went to get some groceries and there's this one guy who I think was checking me out." Chloe said.

"There you go again with the boy radar. You know you will get into trouble one day if you continue that." Guillen said.

"Geez chill out I was just joking." Chloe said.

"But the guy definitely checked me out." Chloe continued.

The two laughed.

Meanwhile, Zeal was thinking about the old man that he had met.

"He who balances dark and light? Is that even possible?" He thought.

In a distant land in Mindanao, which used to be the dark kingdom, there is a forest which the locals dare not go. Deep in the forest is a house where the old man who visited Zeal and Chloe resides.

Inside the house, the old man sits in his big chair.

"He's making his move." The old man said

"Who is my lord?" Asked the guy who was kneeling in front of the old man.

"Manawe" the old man said.

"What should we do now?" Asked the guy

"I have a mission for you." Said the old man.

"Anything for you my lord." The guy replied.

"You will get close to the Queen. I cannot reveal myself so often as my body and magic is becoming weak." Says the old man.

"You will act like them, eat like them walk like them." The old man continued.

"You will give me every information you gather about the queen and that rotten prince and the witch. They make a move and you report it to me."

"Yes my lord." The guy said.

"If they make a move on you, you are to do what you must, but do not kill the Prince."

"What about the queen?" The guys asked.

"As long as that witch is with her you won't be able touch her, that witch is hiding something her true ability." The old man said.

"But what if i need blood? I need it to replenish my strength." The guy asked.

"That city is full of people, do as you please just don't make any trouble that would require my presence." The old man said.

"Yes my lord." The guy said.

He turned around as he walked away from the old man.

"And one more thing Achlys, if any human gets in the way of your mission, raise hell." The old man said.

As he walks away from the old man, Achlys raises an eerie smile, then silently answers.

"Gladly."