The Tale of Xenosa

The Palace

Cheska's POV:

Wow. Just wow. Those were the first words my mind came up once we stepped inside the gate. The palace is super beautiful. You can tell that the people who built it were very skilled in their respective crafts. The amount of detail this place had is truly wonderful! Everything seemed so perfect! Well, everything I've seen so far is perfect. This place had a unique atmosphere of both peace and chaos. And yet somehow, in between those things, you can feel a sense of order and the presence of beings who command your every will. Yeah, that's exactly how this place felt. It was beautiful, but at the same time, it commanded respect, loyalty and obedience from the people in it. The pathway was decorated with different statues of the gods, while there were lawns that seemed to go on forever. A trick for the weaker creatures of nature. That's what Nana used to call these kinds of things. Why do I remember that now? I don't really know of any accurate reason. All I know is that sometimes I get this sudden memory boost, then all of the sudden I can remember things that I thought I didn't know of in the first place. Back to the pathway, they, the statues of the gods, were all doing poses that I think went with the type of domain they had. Like one of the statues was holding a tornado in his palm, while one was holding out lighting bolts and had clouds all around him, another had vines grapple his feet while he held a mighty sword on his right. These statues depict the kind of power the gods have. This garden was magnificent and just overall marvelous for a mere mortal to see, but it was weird as well. Why were we even allowed to come up here in the first place? Was it because of the key? The guards had no clue of our arrival either, which didn't make any sense at all. The people, or creatures we've encountered the entire way here were well aware of the prophecy. And I'm sure the elves were just as old as some of the nymphs we met. So the question is, why don't they know about it? Why aren't they aware of the prophecy? If the gods knew about it already, shouldn't they warn the people about it beforehand? I shook my head trying to get rid of the question I had flying in my mind. I am so screwed if they're able to read minds. I hope not. I roamed my eyes around the palace gardens once more. There I saw placed on the lawns were figurines or statues of monsters. Some we've heard in stories or read in books but most were unfamiliar and completely foreign to me. I don't think that they're alive or if they're able to somehow gain life and start attacking us right here or anything with the same thought as that, but the resemblance is uncanny though. Whoever sculpted this certainly had an eye for the details. Everything is super precise, it was as if he or she turned the monsters into stone, thus being able to get all of the details right. I approached the peculiar statue beside it. I looked at it intently and took my time analyzing its features for about five seconds. After, that was when I realized it was an aswang! This was an aswang, like the ones who tried to kill us back in the maze. Okay, I will take it back. Maybe not everything here is beautiful or perfect. Statues like this just made the whole place eerie. But it was still able to add to the overall ambiance of the palace. I went back to the pathway and just gazed at the statues displayed on the side. One statue in particular caught my eye. Though it looked very familiar, I couldn't wrap my thoughts about who it could be. The god was holding a trident. He had a crown that mimicked the waves of the ocean. Just by looking at his eyes, I knew that he was someone not to be messed with. I stopped in my tracks and just stood in front of the statue. I was about to figure it out when Lacresia called me, "Ches c'mon we need to go. This garden is giving me the creeps" she says. I nodded at her and decided to continue walking to the palace entrance. Once we got inside, we were instantly greeted by a fairy. She bowed her head at us slightly and we did the same thing to her. She beckoned for us to follow her and so we did. If the outside of the palace was remarkable, the inside was even better. It was filled with live paintings. Live painting is just painting, but the subjects in the painting move. If you're familiar with the concept of live pictures on your phone, then it's just really the same thing. It's the same concept. The palace had a staircase in the middle which we climbed, and then once we got to the top the rooms were endless. My jaw dropped realizing the size of this place. I estimated it to be about the same size as the city below but I guess it was bigger. They must've used some kind of compression magic to make it seem smaller. The fairy guided us to the double-doored room at the end of the seemingly endless hallway. She then opened it and gestured for us to come in. Weren't fairies supposed to be talkative and cheery or were those just stereotypes? I then followed Lacresia and entered the room. The moment my eyes were able to scan the room, it landed on someone very familiar. She was seated in the rows and was dressed in very formal attire. She was wearing something similar to a judge's toga. Nana? It was Nana! She looked younger and a whole lot more powerful. Was she here the entire time? What was she even doing here? As far as I knew, she was no goddess or anything like that. She was just a witch. Perhaps she felt my gaze and turned her head to where I was. She glanced at me with a lot of worry and admiration on her face. I smiled at her, tears swelling up in my eyes. I wasn't aware as to how or why she was there. I just know that I'm happy and relieved that I've finally found her. I wiped the tears from my eyes quickly, not wanting to let anyone know of my weakness. I looked around the room again and saw that they were all wearing the same thing. For gods, I expected them to be tall or have a specific glow to them, but they looked very human to me. Not that there's anything wrong about looking human. Maybe I just imagined something different about their appearance. They all looked young though, oddly. For beings who are supposed to be millions of years old already, they looked to be humans who were well into their early forties. They looked that young. I then observed the symbols they had each on their tables. They all had specific symbols, and they were all different. I think this was how they presented themselves. Through their symbols. All the ladies were beautiful and the men looked handsome. It was as if they'd been carved by the most mastered hands in all of history. Considering that they were gods, I doubt anything about them would be imperfect. They all looked dazzling. I was right when I concluded this place was oozing off vibes of obedience. These beings, though they looked super human, had an aura of superiority to them. You just know that when you talk to them you'll have to give your utmost respect. My thoughts were interrupted when a familiar figure entered the room. A loud gong then sounded, causing silence to engulf the once buzzing sound. "ALL RISE FOR THE WELCOMING OF THE CHOSEN ONES. THE ONES WHO'LL COMPLETE THE TEST AND SURVIVE," a loud voice said. As if on cue, six more teenagers entered the room. "THE MEMBERS OF PROPHECY ARE COMPLETE. THE EIGHT CHOSEN DEMIGODS ARE NOW HERE," it continued to say. The gods then bowed their heads at us. We were stunned to even do anything. How could the creators of this world, the most powerful beings, bow down to kids, right? After a few moments, the voice spoke, "RISE GODS AND GODDESSES, IT IS TIME FOR THE GREAT ORACLE TO RECITE THE PROPHECY OF OLD". Green smoke then appeared in front of us. It took the form of a woman. It was Nana! Was she the oracle? No, this wasn't Nana Gemma. I looked at where I saw her standing a while ago and she was still there. This woman was a lot younger. I think I've seen her before. She had her head bowed then suddenly started to chant words I hadn't heard of before. Once she looked up, I saw just how similar her features to Nana were, we even had the same face shape. Realization then dawned on me. Of course, my mom had to be the oracle. She then opened her eyes and they were green in color, a golden book appeared on the palms of her hands. The book opened and flipped on the pages itself. It then floated to the center of the room, the oracle followed still with eyes glowing green and green smoke engulfing the lower half of her body. She then gestured for the page to be ripped out of the book and that's when she read it, that's when I heard of the prophecy again. She read with the coldest voice I've ever heard, black smoke then started to form on the ceiling. Perhaps it was a bad omen. That was the moment I realized that we were really here for the real deal,

“A girl shall be born on the 29th of February,

A childhood of happiness and never wary,

In the midst of her adolescence, a loved one goes astray,

Which begins her journey to a land far away.

A journey of 8 she will start,

But only 4 will make it to the heart,

She will reach eighteen against all odds,

The ultimate sacrifice she will give to the gods …”

After she read the prophecy, the black and green smoke disappeared, the ripped page from the book magically reattached itself again. The oracle's eyes were now golden, no longer floating mid-air in the middle of the room. She closed her eyes and fell down on the floor. I was sure she was going to fall hard with a loud thud but the sound never came. Someone had caught her.