The Long Lost Witch Princess

“ARE you ready baby?” “Maybe?” Roya answered her brother Raven. Today marks her 17th birthday. Her precious parents decided to host a party for her and since she’s not the friendly type of person, almost all her visitors are her parent’s associates. Roya and Raven made their way through the dining area. Couple of people are saying their wishes to her in which she responds by smiling and saying “Thank you.” “Are you nervous?” “Yeah. You know I don’t like socializing,” Raven caressed her left cheek and smiled. “It’s okay, I am always here. I won’t leave you until the party’s done.” “Thank you Raven. Let’s go see Mom and Dad.” They scanned the area to find their parents. He saw them talking to one of their associates, the Saavedra’s. Their only son, Alex, is the only friend Roya has. “Hey Roya!” shouted Alex. “Alex! I’m so glad you made it here,” she exchanged hug with him which earns a furrowed brow from Raven. “Of course Sweetie. How could I miss it? It’s your special day.” “Roya, be ready. You need to thank our guests tonight.” “Yes mom,” anxiety eats her up. She doesn’t know if she can deliver a speech well like her parents and Raven. Maybe the confidence stops at Raven. Wish I could be more like a Prescott.> “Ladies and Gentlemen, thank you all for coming here tonight to celebrate the 17th birthday of the Prescott’s only Princess, Roya. Let’s all welcome her,” applause echoed through the whole venue as Roya walks on the stage. “Hello good evening everyone. I want to express my gratitude for sparing some of your precious time to be here and celebrate with us,” she was interrupted when the sky roared. “Oh, looks like it’s going to rain,” the host stated then another roared was heard. Shock was visible on everyone’s face when they saw Roya’s eyes turned into pitch black. “Estu ezta ru,” Roya repeatedly saying a chant that makes no sense. “Hey baby,” Raven’s trying to wake Roya by slightly tapping in her face. The crowd’s kind of panicking with what’s happening. A more aggressive thunder echoed throughout the hall which earns a scream to some guests. Roya’s mom went on the stage to ease the crowd. Raven carried Roya back to her room and party ended soon. IT’S been 2 days since Roya’s birthday. She barely remembers what happen after she said her thanks to the visitors. Raven helped her with the details. After that incident, she keeps on dreaming of a little girl, probably five, who is trying to find someone named Levi. At first, she thought that it is just a random dream but it keeps on bugging her even in her daydreams. She just kept this information to herself. “It’s okay baby. Maybe you were just stressed at that time. Don’t think too much,” Raven’s trying to convince her that what happened was just normal for a stressed person. “How can you say that? Maybe I’ll go crazy one of these days,” and those dreams. They felt so real, it’s like I am the little girl.> “Stop being a paranoid Roya. What you really need right now is rest and of course, good food,” as if on cue, their mom entered the room holding a tray full of her favorite dishes. “Hello my sweet Roya. Eat up and rest. You need a lot of strength because tomorrow’s your first day at school.” Her stomach growled upon seeing the food that her mom brought. She immediately took a bite at the mouth-watering cheeseburger and put on a handful of fries. Her mom and Raven watched her as she finished all of her food. They exited Roya’s room after she ate to give her space so she can rest more. “WAKE up sleepyhead,” “Five more minutes Raven.” “No baby. You need to fix yourself now. It’s your first day at school.” Roya argued more but Raven won in the end. She got up and headed for the bathroom. After fixing herself, she immediately went to the dining area to eat her breakfast. “I’ll drive you to school today and for the rest of the school year so you better wake up early, okay?” There he goes again - the super punctual person.> After having their breakfast, they headed for the door and entered his Lamborghini that he usually drives going to his office. Her school, Prescott University, is just a 15-minute ride from their house. “I’ll pick you up at four,” Roya just nodded and give him a peck on his cheeks. Since she’s 30 minutes early from her class, she headed for the cafeteria to have her second breakfast. She ordered a chicken pasta and orange juice. “Very punctual Roya,” Alex teased her. “You know my brother Alex, and of course he needs to go to his work on time too.” “You have a point. By the way, how are you feeling right now?” “I’m okay now Alex. Rest was all I needed,” then she faked a laugh. “Roya, if something’s bothering you, you can always come to me. And please, stop faking your laugh.” “I’m sorry and thank you for being my friend.” They continued their eating session when suddenly Roya hallucinated. It was as if she is in a deep forest with really tall trees. She looked around and saw a bunch of animals in which she can’t name. After some time, she saw a majestic lake with big rocks around and has a mini falls in the middle. “I’ve been waiting for you Roya,” a lady in white ruffled dress suddenly appeared. “Who are you?” she’s confused as to why the lady knew her. “I don’t have much time to introduce myself but remember everything that I will tell you,” Roya unconsciously nodded. “You need to find this lake and look for the thing that will help you with your problem.” “What thing? And where is this?” “There’s no time Roya. You need to wake up,” as if on cue, she’s back in the cafeteria and saw that people are panicking. The fire alarm reverberated throughout the vicinity. “Roya come on. We need to evacuate,” before she can even respond, Alex grabbed her and lead her outside the cafeteria and headed for the evacuation area. She saw how the cafeteria was eaten by fire. How come she didn’t notice it? And how come she didn’t felt scared of the fire? The more she stares at the fire, the more comfort she felt. What's with me? This is so weird.> Moments later, firetrucks came and extinguished the fire. Everyone’s in the state of shock but maybe except for her. She felt comfortable which confuses her. The dean decided to cancel the first day of classes. What a handful first day.> She dialed Raven and reported what happened. He told her to wait for around 20 minutes and he will drive her home. “Hey sweetie, let’s hang out on weekends.” “Where to?” “Let’s go to the Kent’s airbase. Heard there’s good food there and you can ride one of their chopper’s display.” “Really? Oh, I love that. We need to take a photo riding that.” “Okay, so it’s a deal.” ROYA decided to wake up early because today, she will hang out with Alex at the Kent’s airbase. She is excited because she has this fascination in flying. She felt comfortable whenever she is 30,000 feet above the ground. “Roya, be back at exactly 5 pm.” “Are you my Dad now, Raven?” He raised his eyebrow at the remark of her little sister. He is just concern of her safety because she will be out now with some guy. He knows that Alex has a thing with her sister and he doesn’t want that. Roya deserves better!> “Roya, I don’t like that tone.” “Okay I’m sorry. I promise I’ll be back on or before 5 pm.” Moments later, Alex arrived and instead of greeting her first, he went to Raven. They talked for a few minutes before Alex turned to her and smiled. “What did you two talked about?” Roya asked while entering his Audi R8. “Some stuff, boys stuff,” then he winked. “I didn’t know you were close to my brother.” “Oh trust me, we’re not,” Roya decided to drop the topic. “Do you want to eat first or we go to the display and take a picture?” “Hmm, let’s eat first so we can have more time to digest the food,” Alex nodded as a response. It took them so long before they arrived because of heavy traffic. The irritation they felt earlier was washed out because of the scenery. It has this massive flat green field and mountainous terrain that is breathtakingly beautiful. She heard a click so she turned her gaze on Alex who’s now holding a camera and facing her. She lightly tapped the edge of the lens to stop him from taking pictures of her. He just laughed at her reaction and face the scenery to take a picture. After getting the view that he wanted, he grabbed Roya’s hand and lead her to La Cafeteria to have their early lunch. Roya ordered a pork liempo and garlic fried rice while Alex go for their famous kare-kare with shrimp paste. They served the food on banana leaves style plates and it tastes so authentic. The food came after few minutes. Roya took the first bite and it was heaven. “Let’s try the dirty ice cream after this,” Alex suggested which earns an approval from Roya. After they savor the food they ordered, they took a short stroll to the ice cream cart. They eat their ice cream on cone while they headed to the chopper’s display. There was a long queue for the picture taking inside a chopper. It took them around 20 minutes before their turn. Roya was widely smiling while Alex is taking a picture. They decided to take a stroll again to relax a bit. The place is kinda windy so even if you were walking, you still feel fresh. They passed by a few benches, pine trees and some abandoned infrastructures. “Is that a haunted building?” Alex asked and pointed at an abandoned building. “Hey, watch where you’re pointing,” Roya warns him and tapped his hand. “Isn’t it exciting?” she can’t believe what she’s hearing so she turned to Alex only finding him giving her a deranged smile. “Not a good joke Alex,” what's with him? How come he wants to talk about that? He hates this kind of stuff.> “Alex? Whose Alex?” a different voice came out of Alex’s mouth, which made her shiver. “Who are you? What have you done to him?” Roya tried her best to compose herself. Panicking is not an option, she needs to help her friend. “Who am I? Maybe you’ll remember me if I did to you,” and in a snap she flew. She wiggled her whole body trying to escape from an invisible string that’s tying her but failed. “Let go of me, you freak,” she screams while still struggling to escape. Suddenly, she felt some sparks on her right hand. She slightly lifted her hand and maybe she’s hallucinating because she’s seeing literal sparks in her hand. Soon after, the sparks began to ignite which earns a scream from Roya once more. She tried shaking her hand but it was no use. The fire is still in her hand but one thing confuses her, sure the fire is hot but she can’t feel any burn. It was more like soothing. “Don’t fight it Roya. Just let it flow. Let it become a part of you,” she heard whoever took over Alex’s body laughs maniacally. “Don’t struggle Roya,” a different voice echoed in her ears. She looked at Alex but it’s not moving his lips. “Who are you?” “Don’t worry, I am a friend. Listen and do what I say. It will save both of you.” Can I trust this voice? What if it’s a trap? But what if it’s not. It’s now or never, I need to take a risk.> “Close your eyes.” “What? Why would- “ “Just do it. Time is running.” “Okay fine,” she closed her eyes and tried to listen to the voice. “Then imagine the fire in your hand, feel it. Feel the hotness, feel the rhythm,” she obeyed what the voice instructed her. “It feels so hot yet so calm.” “Good, now try to shift it in your index finger,” she tried to guide the fire in her hand to stir in her index finger. “Now, shoot.”