The Unknown God/Goddess

The Elven Prince

Austin's P.O.V

It's been days since everything was okay. Rafaela was back to visiting me again, and she even apologized to Layla about what happened in the party. Layla seemed cool about it and didn't make a big deal out of it. Mine was slowly being filled with what happened by Pharsa. Mine even asked us if she could spar with us too. She wants to help us when it comes to fighting. 

Mine told us how she didn't like Ares. He kept belittling her and Athena and that it disgusted her but she has no choice since Ares was the one who asked her to come. Athena was okay with it, or that's what she says. I think Athena just wants to see if Mine can really handle it. 

On the days that Rafaela was with me, I notice someone tailing her. It wasn't a person, heck no. It was quite similar but not human. Pharsa shakes her head to stop me from butting in. I didn't like how an entity could shamelessly stalk my beloved when I'm here. 

I got so annoyed that when Rafaela and the others were here, when I said others, I meant Earl and Sarah, I burst out and stand up, catching the attention of everyone in the room. 

"What brings you here, Elven Prince?" 

I hear a couple of gasps before the Elven Prince made his entrance. He was like what everyone would imagine. Pure white skin, who looks like a doll, with perfect features and a charming smile. His ears slanted into a point. 

"Oh, my, I'd expect nothing less from the Prince of Olympus." his voice could enchant humans if he just wanted to. 

"I have been noticing you come in here uninvited, Young Prince." I cross my arms and stared him down. His guards behind him were elves too, but despite their frail stature, they're not one to mess with as they have an affinity with magic. 

"Ah, yes. My apologies but I seem to have piqued an interest. Mind introducing me to everyone, Prince?" 

I inhaled deeply. The introduction was such a chore. I don't want him to know their names. It will be their doom. With just the name, he can control their minds at ease. 

"I do not mean to be rude, Elven Prince, but I do not permit such a thing." his innocent eyes turned into those of sinister ones. 

You see, elves are generally nice creatures but some aren't just meant to be an elf, especially a royal. I know how his mind works. It was so twisted that we in Olympus left him be. Of course, that didn't disrupt the balance of the world, but still his capabilities are not to be turned a blind eye on. 

"Prince of Olympus," he mutters my title as if it was poison. 

"Elven Prince." 

He sighs and turned to look at Sarah. Oh, wait, it wasn't Rafaela? Pharsa's expression turned sour. The Elven Prince licked his lips as he looks over at Sarah. Sarah wasn't stupid, so she immediately got the Elven Prince's intention. She covered her body with gritted teeth. Pharsa stood in front of Sarah, shielding her of the humiliation. 

It turns out he wasn't following Rafaela, but Sarah. I must've calculated wrong. Whenever Rafaela visits, the two comes as well and we enjoy laughter together. Sarah is beautiful, I would understand if someone likes her. Pharsa was ready to attack but I extend my hand to stop her. 

"Tell me, Elven Prince, why would you want a human who lives a very short life?" 

"Aren't you the same, Prince of Olympus?" this time, us calling each other's title wasn't for respect, but for insult. 

"I did not have any intention of any of this happening. I merely fell the first time and could no longer turn back." he smiles wide. 

"Well, Prince of Olympus, I, too, fell the first time I saw her." he looks to Sarah with a loving, sickening gaze. Sarah looks away.

She must've felt like she was being assaulted. She was quivering and gritting her teeth at the same time. I turn my attention back to the Elven Prince, angry. 

"Stop." 

"I am not doing anything, Prince of Olympus." he was so sure of himself. 

"Who are you fooling, Elven Prince?" 

I flicked my finger, cancelling what kind of spell that he placed upon Sarah. 

"Thank you," Sarah says softly. 

"HOW?" he asks, surprised that I could easily break his spell. 

I take a step forward, intimidating the s**t out of him. He takes a step back, cowering in fear. His guards take a step closer to me and placed a hand on my chest to stop me from getting any closer to their young prince. 

"Do not forget the treaty that you signed with us, Elven Prince. This is a warning, unless you don't want protection from the gods anymore." 

"Young Elven Prince, I advise for you to retreat and never come back." Layla steps up. 

His eyes went wide, seeing Layla in the flesh. 

"Are, are you Layla the Vampire Queen?" 

"I'm grateful that even the Elven Prince knows of me." 

He weighs his options. Well, he doesn't really have any choice left. Layla may not look like it but she is strong and the strongest among all vampires. You see, she was also there when the war of the titans and gods happened. She served as one of the frontlines. She's had countless of deaths in her hands, she's very experienced and deemed worthy to be Queen. 

"F-fine! I'll retreat for now! But I'll be back!" he pathetically retreats and disappears before our eyes. 

"You okay?" Pharsa asks Sarah who was still covering her body, but she isn't trembling anymore. 

"I'm fine now. That sick bastard. He's a Prince?" Sarah was full of spite and anger that I could almost see fire in her eyes. 

I sigh and sit down. 

"Excuse me for a bit." 

I scoot closer to Sarah and placed my middle and pointy finger on her forehead. I closed my eyes, concentrating on tracing the magic that he used. As I thought. I retract my fingers and sat straight. 

"The Elven Prince wants you to be his bride." 

"Wait, what?" Earl asks, shocked. 

"How did he find her?" Rafaela asks. They were both concerned for their friend. 

Pharsa clenches her fists. 

"The Elven Prince always searches for damsels in distress." Pharsa says softly. 

"What, what does that mean?" Rafaela asks. 

"Your friend here is having problems and the Elven Prince sensed that, confirmed it on his own and now he's making his move." 

"You're having problems?" Earl asks. 

Sarah stands up and walks away, exiting the apartment. Earl and Rafaela exchanged looks before going after her. Rafaela turns back to me and I just gave her a smile. She smiles back timidly and exited thoroughly. 

"I believe you know about this?" I ask Pharsa. 

I know because she's also following Sarah around. She's been quiet about this, and I want to know why. But if Pharsa doesn't want to tell us, then I will respect her decision. I will still help her nonetheless. Layla will too. She doesn't have any choice either. She's been assigned to protect Pharsa and if Pharsa jumps to trouble, then she will and do everything she can to make Pharsa safe. 

"Yes," she closes her eyes, forcing the answer out of her mouth. 

"I won't ask, but if you want to tell us, knowing that Sarah will hate you for it, then okay." 

She stayed silent and I waited. She needs time. But she also needs to know that I'll still help her. That Elven Prince is too much. Many entities are suffering because of his wrong doings and I don't want humans to be one of those that also suffers when they don't even know about supernatural creatures to begin with. 

"Her father," she pauses and I waited again. 

No need to rush things. The Elven Prince is afraid of Layla. We can use that to our advantage. Someone like Layla could easily wipe out the royal army of the elves if she wants to. 

"Her father is having an affair and it's affecting her and her mother." it took too much strength to say it, Pharsa inhales sharply, as if she lost her breath. 

"Hmm," was all I could say. 

"I'll help you, Princess." I see how Layla was so determined to make Pharsa smile. 

Now I know why Pharsa has been so distant lately. She's worrying about Sarah. Is Sarah's performance in school deteriorating too? Sarah must've put up a good front that Rafaela and Earl didn't notice her grief. 

"Don't worry. We're in this together." I give Pharsa a pat in the back before going outside in my raven form and eavesdrop on their conversation. 

I want to know more because if I know more, I can help her more better. The Elven Prince's mind-control and mind-break are no joke. I need to find a way to counter it or it will be too late. I fly to the nearest tree and listened to their conversation. 

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you." Rafaela and Earl shakes their head. 

"You can tell us anything, Sarah. We're best friends." Rafaela tells her reassuringly. 

"Yeah, man, we're here for you." 

"I was afraid I'd be a nuisance." 

"Oh, come on. You know you are, but if it's problems, I'd prefer it if you'd want to tell us than keep it to yourself." Earl grins at Sarah making Sarah smile sadly before she starts crying. 

"Dad is having an affair and mom's drinking non-stop." 

Earl stands up. 

"Should I cut you father's crotch off?" 

"Earl," Rafaela gives him a warning and he sits down. The Rafaela that I just saw sent shivers down my spine. 

"I want to clarify something," Earl starts, catching both of the girls' attentions. 

"Does your mom care about you? I know that sounds so s**t but I want to know." 

He was right in asking that question. 

"I, I guess not." and that made Sarah burst out crying again. 

"Hey, it's going to be okay. Everything always turns out that way. Give it time," Rafaela gently rubs Sarah's back, soothing her. 

"Do you want to live with Pharsa for a while?" 

"What do you mean?" Rafaela asks. 

"I know this sounds like we're only using her but she's good for you. It's only for the time being until things settled." 

I think Pharsa will like that. Now that I've heard enough, I'm going back inside. I flew back inside and saw the same positions they were before I left. Pharsa was still thinking hard about what she could do while Layla worried about Pharsa. 

"I have a way." I announced upon my arrival. 

Pharsa and Layla whips their head to me. 

"If I do this, I'm going to be a bit dangerous." Layla caught on to my way of thinking and steps up to accentuate her strong objection to my idea. 

"I highly no recommend that way, Your Highness." 

"Sarah's in a state of vulnerability. There's no other way." 

"What are you guys talking about?" the trio came back inside, holding on to Sarah's hand. 

"I don't know what you're thinking, Austin." Pharsa asks me. 

"I will give Sarah a portion of my divinity to shield out the mind tricks the Elven Prince tries to cast upon her." 

Pharsa stands up and shakes her head. 

"I'm with Layla with this one, Austin." Mine came out of nowhere with snacks on her hands. I guess she was baking again. 

"You're dangerous even with your divinity intact." Pharsa whispers so that the three won't hear a thing. 

"We have no other choice. Mine, seal me away and I'll leave the rest to you guys." 

Mine, Pharsa and Layla looked at each other. 

"We need to talk this out." Pharsa says and grabs Layla and Mine's arm and pulled them to her. 

Sarah, Rafaela and Earl took this chance to approach me and asked me what that meant and why they were so serious that they had to talk it out without me. 

"Well, I haven't quite mastered my ability to wield darkness." I say sheepishly, ashamed. 

We're friends. I can tell them one or two of my weaknesses. I'm grateful for these three humans that brought joy to my life. 

"So that means you're dangerous?" Earl asks. 

"Yes, and darkness can be translated to chaos." 

"You're going to help me?" I give Sarah a smile. 

"Of course I will. You're my friend. How could I not?" a tear escaped Sarah's eye and gave me a hug. 

"Thank you," she says whole-heartedly.

I hug her back. A moment of friendship fills up my heart with warmth that I've never felt before. They make my life so alive and they're making me feel things that I've never felt before. I'm realizing what kind of life I was living before I met them. I wouldn't want to go back to living that kind of life. 

Sex here and there. No loyalty and no proper respect. They're seeing me as someone equal and seeing me as someone valuable without any status required. It was enough for me to be reckless and help.

"Austin," 

The three were done talking and they all displayed serious expressions. I break the hug and turned to the three. I reciprocated their seriousness and stand firm. 

"Done?" 

"What made you arrive to that decision?" Mine asks. 

"Layla can easily fight them back without my help, but that doesn't really mean something if they get to Sarah first." 

I cross my arms and continued. 

"Once Sarah's mind is being taken over by the Elven Prince and have her sign something, there's no way Sarah can be saved then. Even if Layla manages to defend against the royal army, we'll still lose Sarah. What we lack isn't manpower, but defense against his mind-control." 

They take in my explanation. I remained calm. I'm also afraid too. I'm dangerous and it's already carved inside my head. That killing intent. It felt cold and natural to me. I don't want to hurt them. The darkness inside me always wants to prevail against the light. It's always a turmoil inside me. 

I think I'm just the right light and dark but those times that my darkness weren't in use, are concealed, I think it's making up for the lost time. I haven't used this and now that it's been discovered, it has grew to be potent and strong. I don't know where I got that logic but I did. I could feel the darkness growing inside me. 

It wants to get out. I'm afraid, even more so than them but I don't want to tell them that. This is the only chance that we can fight against the Elven Prince's mind advance. It's frightening. It's cold and I'm scared. 

"We'll seal you in a shrine." Pharsa tells me, making me smile proud. 

"So, when will we strike?" Layla asks. 

I shake my head. 

"We're on the defensive side. The Elven Prince doesn't know what I'm capable of. So, this is going to be the hard part." 

"What do you mean?" 

"I can only channel divine protection if and when the Elven Kingdom is making its move." 

"Why?" Mine asks. 

"Because I can only lend it to her within a specific period of time." 

They understood what I meant. I'm already unstable even with my divinity intact, how much more if my divinity is away for long? It's only a portion but still, that's more than I can handle. 

"Sarah will need to fight the remaining force that my divinity can't." I turn to Sarah and she flinches when she meets my eyes. 

"Sarah, you can do it." Rafaela persuades her. 

"I believe you. You're the most that can handle shocks than the two of us. You're mentally stronger than you think you are." Sarah was conflicted. Her eyes were uneasy and her hands were trembling. 

"What if I don't want to?" she asks, but I think she knows already. 

"Sarah!" 

"Sarah, no!" 

All she needs is a brutal answer. So brutal that she will want to fight back with all her life force and I'm going to give it to her. I don't want her to regret anything. 

"You'll get r***d. You'll be watched while you're getting r***d. Your already broken family at this point will be even more broken and they'll toy with your feelings. You'll have no right to ask for anything without doing anything for them in return." 

"Austin!" Rafaela scolds me. 

"That's too harsh." Mine says. 

"Austin, that's too much!" Pharsa scolds me as well, but I stood my ground. 

"You need to be strong if you don't want any of that to happen." 

".. Okay," Sarah says. 

A few days came and went until the day that the Elven Kingdom finally moved. I was placed in a shrine, escorted by Pharsa and Sarah. I give them both a smile. Mine was outside the shrine, preparing the ritual to keep me sealed. 

"Be prepared," I tell Sarah and she gives me a nod. 

I went and gave her a portion of my divinity. I watch as how the small light orb goes inside Sarah's chest. 

"Now, go!" I could already feel the darkness waiting to get out. 

Pharsa and Sarah immediately runs away. I feel chains grab both my hands and legs. I'm in such a sorry state.

"Agnostos.." I hear a frightening low voice echo. 

I groaned, feeling pain all of a sudden on my chest. The chains were preventing me from making a tiny ball. 

"Agnostos.." there it was again. 

Suddenly, I could see how the battle was turning out. 

"You see.."  

I see Rafaela shouting and Earl holding a fainted Sarah. Mine was fighting against one elf while Pharsa was against three at the same time. 

"Agnostos. You know who you are." 

Layla was slashing throat after throat of many elven guards. The Elven Prince was fighting his own battle with Sarah. 

"Agnostos, don't fight yourself." 

But Sarah had managed to defeat him and they succeeded. I have no more sense anymore. The pain on my chest was so unbearable that I had screamed. 

"Erebus..."