The Majarlican Demigod

17: The Party

The Majarlican Demigod

Chapter 17: The Party

It's our first quarterly school break when students will be given 7 days to return to their families after 3 months. Standing in front of the Castle where I grew up in my beloved First District with Talia has never been this good.

We entered the gates as the gatekeepers warmly welcomed us.

"Lady Ally, Miss Talia, welcome home!" Officer Mariano greeted.

"Thank you, Officer Mariano!" we responded in the chorus as we passed through the walkway.

I saw my little sisters waving at me from the door where I used to see my mom. The other one who was holding her favorite doll ran and hugged me.

"Ally! I missed you so much!" she smiles so broadly.

"I miss you too, Marzia!" I carried her in my arms.

"Marzia, you're such a sweetheart!" Talia pinches her chubby cheeks.

"I know!" my little sister giggled

"Talia! Ally!" the other two run to us.

"Ally, what did you bring home for me?" Amari asked. She's older than Marzia and has bangs that suit her small face.

"I'll give it to you later," I said.

"How about me?!" Zephyra asked.

As I looked at her, all I could remember was how she looked at me before Artes killed her. My heart is fainting.

"You brat!" I said with a faint voice. "Where's Father? Let's go inside."

Our family has many members and to be chosen as the next duchess of the first district is just something else. I still can imagine what Saphrias told me about Rupert. This West's Castle has been ours since my grandfather moved to the First District Palace near the Western King's. The king of the West is my uncle's grandpa, who is my grandma's older brother. This Castle has a total of ten housekeepers to maintain the cleanliness of every part of it.

Once again, I was able to have my dinner at our long dining table. I remembered how Zephyra and I danced at the top of it when we were little and how father scolded us in front of the servants... It's nostalgic, yet I missed it so much. I wish I could take back the time when Mother was here with us.

As usual, Marzia and Amari have a sitter who will assist them while eating, and a series of viand was served in front of us, unlike in school where we have to stand up if we want to get something else. Father is in the middle, where he usually sits.

"How are you doing in Centralia?" Father asked.

"I'm doing fine, Father, since Talia is there with me," I answered.

"Good. Keep your good grades coming, ok?" Father said.

"Of course, Father," I answered.

"By the way, Althea, I received an invitation from the Emperor's Palace for the Queen's birthday, and I heard that you're coming too," my father is giving off the tone that's warning me somewhat.

"Uncle Duke, Ally, and I were invited by the Crown Prince Rupert. We're really great friends with him." Talia butts in.

"The Crown Prince,” Father paused and looked at me, “I didn't know that he would be sent to school with other kids." Father looked at me, "Well, aside from the invitation, we also received approval of the budget for some of the proposed infrastructure and agricultural projects here in the West." he sounds so positive, yet his eyes are telling me like whatever I'm doing with the Prince is a big mess.

"Uncle Duke, the Prince is nice. I'm sure you'll like him." Talia said.

I turn my head on her and widen my eyes.

She just widened her eyes back at me.

My father said, "He better be,"-- He really looked tired and wanted to sleep. He's been doing the work of the Duke as he was restricted by the Medicus from too much work and stress.

After dinner, I continued writing about my investigation. The kids, together with Talia, invaded my room with their blankets and pillows.

"What are you guys doing here?" I asked.

"We are sleeping here," Amari responded as she placed a floating bed beside mine.

"Isn't it amazing? We have a pajama party!" Marzia jumped on my bed.

I tried to ignore them since they wouldn't wreck my bed just by jumping on it.

Marzia asked Talia, "Is the Prince tall?"

Amari asked too, "Can he fly?"

"He is tall, and he can fly!" Talia replied.

"Are you going to be the next princess, Ally?" Zephyra teasingly asked.

"Ayiiie!" the other two second the emotion.

"Stop it, guys! other people might think that I'm spreading lies," I said, "I'm not going to be the next princess. I will stay here in the First District."

They miraculously stopped teasing me, then Zephyra threw a pillow on my face. Of course, the kids laughed, and Talia started the pillow fight. I really missed this kind of night when we fight before we go to bed, the noise of Marzia and Amari's cry before we all fall asleep... and many more absurd petty things.

After the fight, they finally fell asleep. I am not yet tired, so I want to keep going with my investigation on Artes as of now. I have the Holsters as possible Artes’s vessels. I was writing in my notebook on my study table.

Grimreaper popped from the window, "Althea!" I run to him right away.

"What are you doing here?!" I whispered.

"Easy! They can't see me," he said.

"Grim... We are demigods here. Hello?" I rebutted.

"Oh... Yeah. I just remembered." he flew over the sleeping kids. "You are all Zephrias daughters. Hmm. I'm just here to congratulate you for not meddling with the situations that are bound to happen. Isn't it easier?" he sits on my study table.

"Yes, it is," I answered as I sat back. "I can only do so much about it. And besides, I can't let these kids down. Well, I have a kingdom to save."

"Good girl!" He said.

Zephyra stands up... Staring surprised at Grimreaper, "A... Ally?"

Talia was awakened by Zephyra's movement; she obviously can't see Grimreaper, so she's not sure what exactly is going on. Grimreaper then disappeared.

"Didn't you see that?!" Zephyra exclaimed.

"What?" asked Talia.

"A goblin!" she answered.

"You're just sleepy, Zephyra," Talia said. "Go back to sleep now."

"I'm sure there is a goblin there!" Zephyra said, "Didn't you see that, Ally?"

I looked at Talia, acting like I was not sure what my sister was talking about.

"Zephyra, go back to sleep," I command.

"Ally! I saw it. It's terrifying!" she's shivering as she sits down.

Talia tries to comfort her, "It's alright, Zephyra, we are all having nightmares. You can go back to sleep now."

"Let's all go to sleep." I walked to the bed and lay down beside Marzia. "Talia, you can sleep. We still have a ball to prepare for tomorrow."

I was able to convince my sister to just ignore what she saw by going to sleep. I don't know how to tell her about the grim reaper that she saw. I'm just hoping for her to stop thinking about it. When I wake up, it's almost afternoon. This is the day of the Queen's birthday celebration.

"Father is taking me to the ball, Ally!" Zephyra excitedly told me as I sat down on my bed while twirling with her powder blue big ball gown.

"Lady Ally, we have prepared 3 gowns for you to choose from." One of the palace servants said. The gowns were worn by the mannequins on the side.

"Oh my gosh!" Talia said as she walked to the third gown, "Can I have this glamorous violet dress?"

"Yeah, go ahead," I walked to the white and gold ball gown. It looks very classy, elegant, and too much Centralian's flag. The other one is a shiny red satin A-line gown. It's a lot simpler and easy to wear, "I'll wear this red one," I told the servant.

"Alright, my Lady," then she told the other guy to take the other mannequin out, "Your breakfast is ready, my Lady."

"Thanks. I'll have that, for a moment." I responded, and the newbie servant left.

"I'm greatly excited, Ally!" Zephyra continued, "Do you think Daddy will let me study in Centralia?"

"You're just attending a birthday party, then suddenly you're talking about going to the school of lawmakers." I replied, "But you can ask father about it."

"I want to see how the Crown Prince looks like," she added.

"You better not embarrass yourself there later because if you do... You will embarrass the whole West." I warned her as I checked the red gown.

"Of course!" she walked out of the room.

"Ally, I'm super excited to get to the ball! I'll fit this dress now." Talia takes the dress off the mannequin.

            I was left standing staring at the red dress, thinking how I should go about it. Red doesn't suit my skin tone that much, so I rarely pick this color. This dress has a black-sequined accent and a silver neckline with see-through bell sleeves- more likely that I will look mature in it.

            The emperor's palace is a 4 hours trip from the West, so we need to get ready at noon. I decided to have my hair done by curling its end length, parting it in the middle, and pushing the hair back with flowery clips. I'm happy with the final look... It's nothing like I'm a West. I pinned the brooch of the first district's lady on the left part of my chest. Talia has her hair tail braid that really matched her violet gown, and Zephyra is smiling ear to ear wearing the blue ball gown with silvery gloves and a big bow on her hair that was tied in half. We left our home with my father.

            We finally reached the Imperial Palace-- it's stunningly big. You can see the high-rise towers from afar. The palace looks very enchanted and amusing. It's already getting dark, so the road is lighted by thousands of tiny fairy lights and fireflies. There's a lot of security as our carriage enters the palace along with other guests who were invited.

            When the carriage was parked, father got off the carriage, and we followed him. Zephyra went with Father with his assistant while Talia and I walked with our scrolls. We made it through the guards' post, and the grandiose lobby welcomed us with many royalties.

            Scheming through the crowd, I feel like I'm the only person wearing this color since we are in Centralis. We entered the ball and saw the majesty from the balcony where the imperial family is, except for Rupert. I feel so overwhelmed.

            "Excuse me," a guy bumped to me, "I see you're from the West, right?"

            "Yes." I bowed.

            "Hi! I'm...—"

            "I'm junior councilor Brighton Salazaria, and I'm with the lady of West first district. She's not interested."

            I turned my head to where I heard it.

            "Brighton?" I'm indeed surprised, "That gentleman might be in a higher position. My father would be in trouble," I told him. He's wearing metallic yellow clothing tonight and has a different hairstyle too.

            "There are more important things you need to attend to than getting to know all these people," Brighton responded, "I need to tell you about an important matter." Then, he drew closer to me, "Artes is here." he whispered.

            "What?" I'm confused. "Where? How d...–"

            "He has planted explosives under the bridge. We need to do something to prolong the guests for staying here while we remove all those explosives." he continued whispering. "I have relied on the information to the Pandoras and Hans. I need you to tell it to the crown prince."

            We walked further towards the center to look for Rupert. He's with his mom and the other members of the imperial family.

            "Do everything that you can, or everyone here will die," he continued.

            I don't know how I will respond to him. I'm not sure how he is confident about Artes being here.

            "Before I do that, how can I be sure that whatever you are saying is true? How were you able to find out that Artes is here?" I asked.

            "I am the one that was sent to protect you whom you have been looking for," he answered.

(To be continued)