Elmira Sielstone: The Empress

Chapter Five

Elmira's been in her veranda watching Smith curing the plants that have been also poisoned due to the water in the Palace.

He first removed the water supplies of the plants for them to not be poisoned any longer as Elmira still didn't cleanse the water.

It's midnight, and the Palace is now quiet and peaceful as everyone is asleep, but then Elmira's still awake… Ever since they had arrived in Harzenia, there was no night that she slept soundly. Every now and then, she constantly wakes up in the middle of the night, as if being bothered by something.

"Here… It's the last one."

Elmira suddenly heard something through the wind and shifted her gaze to where it was coming from. From the veranda, she can clearly see what is going on inside the woods, not far from the Palace, but is outside the Palace' Barrier.

The man who delivered her food was standing there with a person in a black hoodie jacket, wearing a mask covering the person's whole face.

"You will receive your reward tomorrow if you completed this last mission successfully. And if not, You already know what will happen."

The man was so scared but was determined to accomplish his task, knowing what could happen if he didn't.

"You've been successfully performing your tasks, I'm rooting for you. It is the last, and most important thing to complete the cycle."

Suddenly, the Person in the mask became uneasy. She looked around as if looking for something.

"We're being watch"

Elmira grinned. You can already feel my stare. It only means that you're already that powerful, but not that powerful as you still can't notice where and who I am.

"Get inside the Palace, quickly."

After killing the man's whole family, now you're using him to get what you want. How considerate of you. Elmira's full of sarcasm talking to herself as she's watching the man and the person in hoodie parting ways.

Elmira jumped from her veranda and landed on the ground of the Palace effortlessly. Her body's tired, but she just couldn't let that man succeed from his last task.

Smith suddenly rushed out from the back garden where he was healing the plants when he heard the sound that Elmira had made.

"What happened?" He rushed forward to get a closer look at Elmira who had been smiling from ear to ear. She's really enjoying the thrill of successfully jumping from the third floor of the Palace.

"Are you alright?" Smith helped him to stand up.

"More than alright." She's still smiling, until the man he was waiting for had entered the Barrier of the Palace, protecting it and its people from unwanted attacks.

When the man had entered the Palace Premises, Elmira got so serious that Smith suddenly tensed up and took a step backwards.

He really couldn't conceal his fright when he's beside Elmira, especially when Elmira suddenly became so serious out of nowhere.

"He's here."

"W-who?"

" That man who delivered my food earlier. If you remember him."

"I didn't see him."

"Now you will." They waited for him to get closer. And when he was meters away from them, Elmira freezes the time.

Elmira touches Smith to make him move as she wants him to witness what will happen as it also concerns him.

"W-what.. what's this… what's going on?" The trees nearby had stopped, fallen leaves had been stocked in the air, and he saw the person in front of them, not moving. He was so startled that he couldn't even clearly ask.

"Time Freeze. Com'on." Elmira got so excited and pulled Smith to where the Hazzle is and took a closer look at what he was holding.

"Look Pa." She gets a hold of the 2mL volumetric flask. It's just so little, but the content is very powerful.

"What's that? Is that the poison you were talking about?" He had quickly regained his calm posture and adapted from what Elmira's doing.

"A-huh? And look at this green chemical. It's so powerful. And if he succeeds in putting this into the water source of the Palace, It will be too late for all of us." She enthusiastically said.

"What should we do with that?"

"Can you give me a flower of green color? Any kind will do."

Smith, even being not sure about what Elmira will do, she still gave him what she wanted. Smith used his Qarath to grow a flower in his hand. The flower can also be seen around the garden, so he had quickly made the flower bloom as the access of the flower was just nearby.

" A Green Gerbera Daisy. Cheerfulness and Purity. A good choice Pa. Thanks." Elmira summoned the same flask as the one she was holding and got the flower from Smith's hands.

She lifted the flask and the flower through the air. The flower has filled the flask, and as it enters the flask, it becomes a liquid that looks just like the poison Elmira was still holding. When the flask is already full, it automatically closes up with a cork.

"This will help him accomplish his task." She held the flask that they had made from the air.

"What's his task?"

"You'll see. For now we need to hide. I'll unfreeze the time and he should not see us."

Elmira gave back the flask containing the liquidized flower to the Hazzle who had been blackmailed to poison the water of the Palace, the same position on how he held the other.

"Com'on Pa." Elmira once again pulled Smith to a place where they couldn't be seen.

"So it is the best place to hide Mira? At his back?" He whispered.

Elmira giggled when his grandfather asked the question.

"Don't worry Pa. He can't see us. We're using Invisibility, you see. And, he can't hear us. You don't need to whisper." Elmira seems like she's just having fun, playing in the middle of the night with her grandfather.

They were following the Hazzle until he stopped in front of a well.

"Is this the main source of water of the Palace?" Elmira asked.

"No. But it is connected from the Main, and everything else."

The man opened the flask and started pouring its content into the Well, slowly mixing up with the water.

As he emptied the flask, he's nervousness slowly went down, calming and he felt more relieved as he knew that he had accomplished his task.

"Where's the Main source then?" Elmira's tiredness was already written all over her face and she couldn't even look for the answers herself.

"It's just around the Palace. I haven't seen it myself."

She can already feel her exhaustion and could not hold their invisibility any longer, as she had been using her Qarath for a while, times two, as she's not only using it for herself, but also with her grandpa.

"I think we need to go back. Are you done curing the Plants?"

"Yeah. I was just wrapping when I heard you fell."

"I didn't fall. I jumped. Let's call it a day Pa. Goodnight."

She teleported Smith in front of their room. As soon as they landed, the time went back to its normal pace and teleported back to her own room, gasping for air and waiting for her breathing pattern to return to normal. She was so tired. She has been using Qarath non-stop for the whole day and she's just so exhausted, and couldn't even stand up on her feet. She fell down on her floor as soon as she arrived inside her room.

"It's getting worse every day." After having enough rest and getting her normal breathing pattern again, she stood up and put the poison inside her infinity pouch.

"I hope you're having a really good time playing with everyone. But, don't blame anyone if that happiness will turn to pure regrets."

Elmira made sure that her room is well protected before sleeping as she knows that it is not safe even inside the Palace.

-----

Elmira had woken up from the blinding lights coming from her veranda. The sun has risen from the horizon and it is another day for everyone in Harzenia.

Elmira had walked through her veranda to gain some fresh morning air coming from outside.

"Another day in the Palace." Elmira watches Hazzles doing their thing in the morning from the grounds. It's another busy day for everyone.

"Look." A Hazzle shouted from the top of her Lungs as everyone gathered around her.

"They're healing." She was holding a leaf from one plant in the garden and Elmira's seeing everything from where she was.

"Thank Smith, Hazzles. He had taken care of your problem." She said, smiling.

"Right. It's been a while since I last saw them like this. They're all healthy now."

"But I think they need more water."

Elmira had straightened up as she heard them saying Water.

"Don't suggest things Hazzle. Your water isn't safe yet." She whispered.

"Right. They need that to heal fast."

The Hazzles working in the garden are preparing to use their Qarath to water the plants to make the healing faster. But that shouldn't happen. Elmira prepared herself to use any Qarath that would stop them when she heard someone shout.

"Stop." Elmira looked to her right from where the voice was coming from. It is Smith, and he's on the first floor's veranda. One floor below Elmira's, and she can see him very clearly from where she is.

Hazzles had looked up and saw him standing from the veranda of the first floor's hallway.

"Let them heal slowly without water."

"But they needed water to heal fast." Someone shouted back.

"And it's an order." Hazzles couldn't argue more because it’s an order from the Royalty, and just bowed their heads in front of him and left one by one.

Smith looked up from where Elmira was and smiled. He's happy to see her.

"Good Morning. I need you to do one more thing." Elmira said through Smith's mind.

As Smith could not answer her through his mind, he just stared and Elmira continued talking in his mind.

"You need to get the ingredients yourself as almost all of the ingredients are concerned with plants. You can find those inside the forbidden garden in the Academy. I'll come with you after cleansing the water. And, please inform them that you need to finish that before the day ends."

Elmira walked in her room and prepared for her another long day here in Harzenia. She wore a Full length white long-sleeved dress that covered her feet. It was just a plain dress, but with her emerald highlights in her brown hair, everything seemed to be extraordinary.

"Are you going somewhere?" Elmira's tying her shoelace when suddenly someone entered her room. She looked up to see who it was, and it seemed like she didn't even notice her coming.

"I'll be freeing the water source from the poison." After seeing who it was, Elmira continued what she was doing.

"Wearing a dress?"

After Elmira finished tying her shoelace, she stood up in front of the mirror, looking at her reflection.

"Why? Does it look weird?"

"No El. It's pretty. It looks good on you with that ribbon in your hair." She holds Elmira's hair and brushes it with the hair brush that she had picked from Elmira's vanity table.

"I've never seen you wearing a dress since you came back here in Harzenia." A mixture of happiness and sadness had left out her mouth, while speaking.

Elmira became quiet as she let the Queen gently brush her hair. She could feel how she's longing for her daughter from the way she brushes her hair, and from the way she talks. They've never met since she’s seven afterall.

"I really wanted to bring you back as soon as possible, but I decided to be patient. I know that you have plans, and if ever I made a single mistake, just because I want to see you and hug you, everything you have planned will be put to waste."

Elmira remained listening to what her Mother's saying. She knows what she wants to say as she can read her mind. And She knows what she feels, but she remains silent, because this is the only way she can do to make the Queen feel better, to make the family feel better, as she's still respecting them as the Family of the body that she had chosen.

"So I waited. Every day seems like a year and feels like the day won't even pass by, but then I endured everything. Because I know that everything will be worth it when you come back." She wiped her tears away before continuing.

"But, Now you're here yet I still couldn't reach you. It feels like you're too far, but you're just here El."

Elmira's watching Elizabeth's thoughts through the mirror and she can only see it. The time that she needs to send them away, the time that she's crying every now and then, the longing, the fear, everything that Elizabeth had gone through. But she can't do anything to cure the aches that she had caused her and the Family.

"And you're still so far away. And keeps on getting distant."

"I have explained everything to you even before having me as your child, right?" It's as if she's treating her as someone who had just a business with, for her cold tone and gestures in front of her.

"I know."

"And you know that I'll leave once I sorted things out here in Harzenia."

Elizabeth couldn't answer her as she's sobbing so hard. She knows very well that even her stay in Harzenia will also be too short.

"Don't make it hard for yourself." Elmira became more serious. "Besides, You've already gained something from this agreement. It's a give and take, Hazzle." She's talking like it's not her mother whom she's talking to.

Elmira stopped the vision from the mirror and it just became a normal mirror that shows their reflection.

"I need to get going. I have some things to finish. "

Without letting the Queen speak and explain her side, Elmira went out of her room leaving the Queen behind, sobbing and being tormented with her memories.

She sighed as soon as she left her room.

Elmira walked down the grand staircase and landed on the ground floor. She didn't bother to use her Qarath to get down because she's saving it from the things that needed Qarath the most.

She stopped at the Entrance of the Palace when she bumped into the King.

"Tell Alexis to get ready. He should be inside the forbidden forest within an hour and a half." She said, still with coldness in her voice.

"Why?"

"You need to prepare the antidote and distribute it within this day."

"Within this day? Are we in so much hurry?"

"Yes. Because it's your People's lives at stake. We can't waste another second doing nothing"

She left him just how she left Elizabeth in her room. She couldn't afford to lose any Hazzle or any Gemus, not now and never.

Elmira made her way to the Main source of Water in the Palace without asking anyone. She had found it out by herself as she can use a little bit of her Qarath from time to time when it is necessary. The last time she asked Smith, he didn't also know where the main water source is located.

"That's why Smith doesn't know where it is. Because It's hidden here, under the Palace." There was a huge water source just below the Palace. It is like a lake that extends to the grounds of Harzenia with the use of Well.

"And that's why you're targeting that Well, because that's the nearest way to poison the main source."

Elmira scooped some water through her palm and she studied it for a while.

"So this is your poison." A green smoke had vanished into the thin air as Elmira had blown some air into the water she's holding.

"It took you some time to come up with this kind of poison, huh. You're unbelievable. You've just tested his loyalty onto you, before giving him the last poison that completes your cycle."

She had summoned an empty jar and removed it's lead. She lifted it into the middle of the lake through the air.

"This won't take time."

Elmira dipped her hand into the water and it began cleansing itself.

The poison turns to smoke as it is separating from the water and is filling the jar that has been prepared to collect every single poison in the water.

"You can deceive anyone. You can poison anyone as much as you want… But not on my watch."

It took an hour to totally free the water from the poison that they have been plotting in the Palace.

After Elmira finished her thing, she made sure that the water would never get poisoned again or anything else by giving protection for their water source and came back to the Palace where she met the King again in the Garden.

"The plants are healing." The King said while happily looking towards the plants and watching the people who have been working in the Garden, maintaining the Plant's growth.

"Have you told Alexis to get ready yet?" Elmira stood beside him and also observed the Place beside the King.

"Eliza has relayed the message using her Dream Qarath." But his smile faded as soon as he mentioned the Queen's name.

"She's hurt El, And everyone else. We know you have your own responsibilities, but can't you be Elmira for once?"

"This is Elmira. You just don't know her well." She paused. "By the way, I need you to teleport us to the gates of the Academy." She suddenly changed the topic as she couldn't handle their overflowing emotions with the topic that the King had Started.

"And do not ask why." Elmira did not wait for the King to respond as she already knew what he was going to say. He will only ask why, when she can also use Teleportation.

"We'll be living in five minutes. I'll just meet PaSmith."

"I need your Qaraths, Just work with me in silence. And just don’t ask why." She relayed, in his mind, before she even vanished from his sights.