King

CHAPTER II

After my little duel with Zynrick, Alystair assisted us out of the laboratory as he briefed me about what a laboratory is. He also told me that the people I saw when I woke up were called researchers, scientists, and doctors. The information regarding the new time was making my head pound but I needed to remember everything he’s telling me.

“We should go to the chateau to change before we rest. You guys look terrible.” Alystair commented making me look down at what I was wearing. It was a blue lab gown, as explained by Alystair, it had a few rips but otherwise, it’s fine.

“What’s wrong with what I’m wearing? I’m used to wearing worn down and torn clothes especially after a battle.” I said honestly. Alystair’s face fell while Zynrick just held his laughter. I didn't know that Zynrick was cheerful. He looked like he gave up on life when I first saw him.

“Looks like you’ll have to babysit two people,” Zynrick joked. Alystair glared at him but he just patted Alystair’s shoulder.

“What do you mean by babysitting?” I asked making Zynrick laugh even more which was pissing me off.

“Don’t mind him. Let’s just go to the chateau and change. Remember, Ellesmiere, this isn’t the same era as you were born.” Alystair said while we were standing outside the lab.

"Just call me Elle," I said and he nodded.

The only people you can see outside the  Magic Preservation Centre were Alystair’s fellow researchers, doctors, and scientists. They were all wearing what they call lab coats while holding papers in their hands and I couldn’t help but observe them. They all looked so immersed in what they were doing and it was something admirable.

I shook my head and reminded myself that this isn't the time to be admiring others.

“Elle, the car’s here,” I heard Zynrick say so I turned and saw an unfamiliar machine.

I approached Zynrick and he motioned for me to go inside. I was hesitant at first but when I saw Alystair sleeping inside I decided to go in. “What is this going to do?” I asked when Zynrick had closed the door.

Inside was cold and the seats were comfortable. There was also a lingering scent of lemon and strawberry. I took a deep breath and it made me feel relaxed but I didn't put my guard down.

“It’s a car and it’s used to bring people to where they’re supposed to go. It’s the equivalent of a horse or a chariot back in your time.” He answered with an annoying smile on his face.

I frowned and said, “Stop smiling it’s annoying.”

“Sorry,” He said before being quiet. He was leaning on the glass and was looking out so I did the same thing.

As I was looking outside, the reality that I was already in a different era had hit me. The houses are big and tall at this time. It wasn’t the same as the small houses I used to see in the villages around the kingdom. The building were made with glass and was mostly square. It looks like it was made out of a strong concrete material unlike the houses back then that were made of light materials like woods. It seemed like this place is more prosperous so it made me wonder why Alystair needed to make Athaeas king again. I mean, even though I love Athaeas, I couldn’t see anything we can do to help in this era. The further we got from the Magic Preservation Centre, the more people there were. They all seemed civil and everything looks so peaceful even though the people look like ants scattered in one place, going to opposite directions.

“We’re here, ma’am, sir,” The man who was controlling this thing called the car said. Alystair immediately woke up and thanked the man before getting out so I did the same thing.

It's annoying having to copy other people's movements. I need to adapt quickly.

“Why didn’t your servant follow you out of that thing?” I asked when he just left with the car.

“You explain,” Alystair said pointing at Zynrick before walking up to a huge gate. I saw him leaning against a small object. A small light came out of it and it went from its forehead down to his chin as if it was scanning his face. After the light was gone, the gates opened and that amazed me. But I didn't show them the amusement in my face. They might just think that I'm ignorant.

“He isn’t a servant. He’s a driver. His job is to take people, like us, to where we want to go then they'll leave.” Zynrick explained in a soft tone so I turned my attention towards him. His lips were curved into a small smile and I internally rolled my eyes.

“Let’s go inside,” He said and I nodded before following him inside the gate.

My eyes immediately went wide when a saw a beautiful castle. Though it was smaller than the usual castles that I used to see, it was the most beautiful one I saw. The castle was tall and rectangular in height. It was roughly two floors. The first floor's frontal wall was made out of glass. The first two glass that is beside the doors, opposite each other, is transparent. It allowed you to see what's inside while the others were dark and forbids you to see what's inside. The doors were colored red which made it stand out, the intricate design could also catch everyone's eyes. The walls were colored white and the front had a bush of weigela.

“Are you done staring at it?” Alystair said making me look at him. He was impatiently waiting at the door along with Zynrick. He looked like he wanted to be inside. I felt my face heat up in embarrassment from being caught so I just walked to where they were.

“Wow,” I couldn’t help but gasp at how beautiful the inside of the castle was, “Your castle is really beautiful,”

The inside that minimal furniture. The receiving area that seemed to be a modern black sofa in the center and in front of it was a thin black box. I was staring at it and it looks like a mirror but it was black. It was standing on top of a white rectangular table that had cabinets below it. I'll just have to ask what it is later. There were two single couches that faced each other. It was also black in color. In the middle of the seats, there was a small rectangular table. The top was made out of clear glass and the legs were sp clear and bright that it seemed like it was carved out of jade. The floor was a bright white color. I sat down and stared at it. I touched it and it felt like it was made out of marble. I stood up and followed them to the staircase. The walls were white as well and so were the stairs. The railing was a swirling design that was colored gold.

“This isn’t a castle, Elle,” Zynrick said once I was standing beside them. I  look at him with furrowed eyebrows.

“It’s called a chateau,” He said and I nodded. Come to think of it, I kept on hearing Alystair say it but I didn’t ask what it meant. Besides, I didn’t want to ask Alystair. He’ll probably just snap at me.

“Follow me and I’ll show you your rooms,” Alystair said and we obediently followed.

The halls didn't have any design. It was just a plain white wall. The doors, on the other hand, were black and had the same intricate designs that were similar to the front door.

“You’ll stay here,” He said and opened a door at the end of the hall. The room was smaller than what I am accustomed to but it was clean so it's fine.

“You can use the clothes in the closet. Those were never used since this is a guest room. You can just look for something that’ll fit you.” Alystair said and I nodded before opening the cream-colored closet at the corner of the room. I took out a white shirt and long pants.

“What about underwear? Do you have female undergarments?” I heard Zynrick ask Alystair which made me raise my eyebrow.

“What are you talking about?” I asked making them jolt. They looked at me with red faces and it's making me feel suspicious. I squinted my eyes at them and took a step towards them. “What were you talking about?”

“A-Al doesn’t have any female underwear here,” Zynrick said before averting his gaze.

"Of course I don't have one!" Al yelled. He turned away to hide his red face. I stared at them alternately out of suspicion.

“What is that?” I asked making them turn redder.

“Gosh, Al, you explain,” Zynrick said but before he could even leave, Alystair already ran out of the door.

“Ah, underwear is something we wear inside before wearing shirts and jeans,” Zynrick said but I got even more confused.

“What’s a pair of jeans? I have underwear and during my time it wasn’t called underwear it’s called a bandage.” I said and he walked towards the bed where I placed the clothes I took out of the closet.

“This is a pair of jeans. Also, you don’t have to worry about undergarments we’ll just ask someone to explain what those are to you and help you go buy some.” He said while holding the piece of cloth in his hands. I nodded at what he said. It seems like I need more adjustments than I thought.

Zynrick sighed and walked towards the door before saying, “I’ll leave you to change. Maybe for now you can use the boxers that are in the drawer.” He said pointing at the small drawer beside the bed then he left with red ears.

“I guess I’ll use these then,” I said looking at the clothes and boxer that were on the table and looked for a bandage that I can wrap around my chest before wearing the clothing I brought out earlier.

After changing I immediately went down to look for Zynrick and Alystair. I went to the kitchen and saw them drinking coffee at the dining table, facing each other. I sat down on one of the empty chairs in the middle making both of them look at me.

“Do you want anything to drink?” Zynrick asked and I shook my head.

Instead, I bluntly said, “I still don’t trust either of you,”

Alystair nodded while Zynrick just bowed his head, “That’s understandable ‘cause I still don’t trust you either.” Alystair said and I nodded.

“What about you?” I asked while looking at Zynrick. He still had his head down and it made me feel like he was feeling the opposite.

 “I don’t trust you either,” I was a bit taken aback by his answer but I guess I read him wrong.

“Since the feeling is mutual I propose we have blood rings,” I said making Alystair raise his eyebrow.

“What would that be?” He asked with his arms crossed while looking at me with suspicion in his eyes.

“It’s magical rings that would bind the three of us. Anyone who attempts to harm the other would experience a curse. A black curse mark will slowly show on your skin which indicates that you attempted to do something that could harm us.” I explained. Alystair scoffed and looked at me with disbelief.

“Do you honestly think we'll believe you? How do we know that it has an even effect on all three of us? For all, we know you’re just probably running your mouth and talking us into having those rings to slowly kill us.” He said making me clench my teeth in anger. So, I glared at him. I was about to say something when Zynrick went ahead of me.

I can't believe he thinks that I'll take advantage of us.

“I’ll try it with her,” He said making Alystair squint his eyes at him but Zynrick didn’t seem to mind. “I’ll give it a try. Maybe she’s telling the truth.”

“You’re an artificial progenitor. A lot of people sacrificed their lives just for you. What if she’s lying and she kills you using that f*****g ring?” Alystair said. The rage he's feeling was shown across his face.

“The bind will vanish once either one of the people who are in the bind dies. He’s the progenitor, even if he is artificial if he is as powerful as a natural-born progenitor, then he can kill me before I could even do anything to him.” I said. I knew for certain that I wasn’t going to do anything to them.

“She’s right,” Zynrick agreed. Alystair clenched his jaw. He glared at me before looking back at Zynrick.

It was one against two and Alystair ended up agreeing.

“Fine,” Alystair half-heartedly agreed so I started with the ritual before he could even change his mind.

I placed my hand on the table and a red array appeared. It started to glow when I started chanting, “I, the witch of the night, am offering the blood of my companion and I to you, the ruler of darkness, accept our blood and bind us.”

After chanting, I motioned Zenrick to stretch out his hand. I formed a small knife using my magic and cut through his palm. His blood dripped on the magical ring that was on the table. After his blood created a small pool I immediately handed him the knife and showed him my palm. He did the same and once my blood had formed a small pool, our blood got mixed before it formed two rings. The ring looked like a chain of infinity symbols.

“Here,” I said giving Zenrick his ring after the array. We both placed the rings on our forefinger.

Alystair just watched the both of us. “What are you doing? Test it out.” He commanded making me clench my teeth. I want to send him into a void so badly.

“Alright, just stay still,” I said and thought of killing Zynrick. I felt a strong pain in my hand so I closed my eyes and continued thinking about harming Zynrick. The pain was starting to become unbearable and my hand started to tremble but I needed to prove myself to Alystair.

This is so troublesome.

“Hey, stop!” I heard Zynrick yell but I didn’t. I won’t stop until Alystair’s the one who told me to do so.

I felt Zynrick pull my hand and attempted to pull the ring out of my finger but I didn’t budge.

“Alright, stop,” I heard Alystair say. I was breathing heavily and I felt sweat dripping down my head. I looked at my hand and saw a swirl of a dark mark that was about an inch long.

Well, there goes my perfect porcelain skin.

“Does this mean you’ll bind yourself to us?” Zynrick asked but Alystair didn’t answer, instead, he placed his hand on the table without saying a word.

I created another array and recited the same chant. We all placed our hands on the circle as Alystair’s blood dripped. After a small pool of blood was created our rings created a line and absorbed a few of Alystair’s blood and provided a few of ours to Alystair’s new ring.

This is taking way too much of my mana.

“Now that all of this is settled, I think we should rest. It’s already late and we’ve done a lot.” Alystair said and stood up. He glanced at the ring on his forefinger and frowned.

“Aren’t we going to have dinner first before we rest?” Zynrick asked but Alystair just sighed.

“I’m not in the mood to eat. If you want to eat there’s food in the fridge.” Alystair said coldly. I could see the disappointment in Zynrick’s face when he heard Alystair’s answer.

“Don’t give me that look, Zyn. Remember, we’re not playing house.” He said and left us there.

I glanced towards Zynrick and the pain was evident on his face. His eyes were slowly turning red and it was glistening when the light shined on it. I looked away and sighed before standing.

“Where’s the food? I’ll cook.” I said. I can't believe I'm saying this when I’m not even sure of how to use any of the things that are in the kitchen.

“You don’t have to,” Zynrick said.

I honestly didn't want to but my kind side is making me do this out of pity.

“I’m hungry as well so don’t flatter yourself,” I said instead. He scoffed so I glanced at him.

“Yeah, you’re right. Anyway, I’ll cook. I’m sure you don’t know how to use any of the types of equipment here.” He said and stood up. He opened the cabinet-like object and cold air came out of it. I peeped inside and I was met with an icy wind but what amused me was that whatever was kept inside was either cold or frozen. He placed food that came from the plastic onto the plate before putting it on a small box. This small box was the opposite of the cabinet. The food that was placed inside was heating up and I couldn't help but watch it through the small glass. I was watching it turn around repeatedly.

“Is that how people cook now?” I couldn’t help but ask. He turned around and gave me an awkward smile.

“Not really. It’s just heating things using the microwave,” He answered before the sound of a ticking bomb echoed in the room. I immediately backed away and looked around but Zynrick just laughed.

“Calm down, it’s not a bomb. It’s just the microwave, see?” He said and opened the small box which made the ticking sound go away.

“Oh,” I said not knowing what else to say.

‘That was embarrassing,' I thought and sat down.

Zynrick placed the plates on the table and we both ate, “You know you didn’t have to make the mark grow into that size just to prove that you’re telling the truth.” He suddenly said so I raised my head. He had his head bowed down and was focused on the food.

“I needed to earn his trust. I can’t work with people I can’t trust. How about you? Why did you trust me immediately?” I asked back. I saw him glance at me for a split second before returning his gaze to the food.

“Intuition,” He answered and I nodded. After that conversation, we both finished our meal in silence.

“I’ll clean up so you can rest.” He said and I didn’t argue.

I had a lot in my mind so I went to the room they gave me. I went to the balcony and looked at the stars. It was something that I’ve always done whenever there was something that was bothering me. I’m glad that nothing changed in the sky. With all of the advancements humans are having I wouldn’t be surprised if they could change the sky as well.

“Where are you?” I asked myself while looking at this place. The chateau was built on top of a mountain so I had a clear view of the kingdom Athaeas once ruled.

I was silently looking at the vast land that was filled with light and gigantic structures when I felt Athaeas’ presence. It was faint so I automatically focused all of my energy in tracing where it’s coming from.

I cast a spell making a triangular array appear below me so it could lift me. I was following his presence in the air while on top of the array. I could feel Athaeas’ presence becoming stronger but I was surprised when it suddenly vanished.

“s**t,” I uttered when I felt that my spell was canceled. The array I was riding suddenly vanished and I couldn’t cast another spell to save myself from falling.

I closed my eyes and tried to focus all of my magic on one spell but I couldn’t even feel any magic in me as I fall on the ground. I was still panicking when I felt someone carry me.

“What were you thinking?” Zynrick asked in a whisper after landing on the ground.

“I felt Athaeas’ presence so I followed it. I didn't know I suddenly lose it and my magic,” I answered in a hushed tone. I didn’t know why he was whispering but I did the same thing.

He looked around and held onto my wrist before pulling me. “We’re getting out of here. This isn’t a safe place for either of us.” He said and carried me.

“What are you doing?” I asked in anger when he carried me without permission.

“I need to carry you because this place cancels all magic except mine so please just stay still until we can get out of this place.” I didn’t answer. I kept my mouth shut but when he was about to jump lights were flashed on us.

“Well, well, well, what are these young people doing here?” A tall man with blond hair asked. He was wearing the same attire as Alystair so I assume he’s a researcher or scientist as well.

“We just got lost,” Zynrick answered and faked a laughed. I looked at him and I could see the uneasiness in his eyes.

“Got lost? How could you get lost in the center of the research facility? I could tell you aren’t members of our team.” He said while approaching us. He had a smile on his face but I had a feeling that this isn’t going to end well. “Unless you’re mythical creatures or magic-users that fell from the sky, I presume.”

“We were sent by Alystair. He was asking if you could give him a few more of the magic canceling serum.” Zynrick said before handing the man something.

“You can call him if you want,” Zynrick said. The blond man in front of us looked at the card before looking at Zynrick. The blond man took the small device and tapped on it before placing it on his ear.

“Hey, Al, people are claiming that you sent them to my facility,” He said and I heard Alystair’s voice coming from the device Zynrick gave him.

“Yeah, I sent them,” Al answered. I looked at Zynrick and he seemed anxious. I glanced at his hands and he was trembling so I reached out to hold it.

“Nothing’s going to happen to us,” I whispered and he looked at me. I didn’t say a word but even though I couldn’t use any magic I can still fight. I was thinking of a way to fight the guards when he suddenly spoke.

“Just don’t think about fighting them and we’ll be alright.” He said and I nodded. I hated how he knew what I was thinking.

“How would we be alright if we won’t fight them?” I asked after letting go of his hand.

“Alystair will come and get us. Being in this kind of place puts us at a disadvantage so just trust me and Al on this one. You’ve been asleep for a thousand years and things have changed. If you were powerful back then, you aren't as powerful now. So, trust me,” He answered. I couldn’t argue with what he said so I just kept my mouth shut.

Just how much did the world change?

“Alright, Al said that he’s on his way to fetch you.” The man said and I felt someone put handcuffs on me so I flinched.

I was about to attack the guard when Zynrick elbowed me. I looked at him and he looked serious so I took a deep breath and calmed myself.

“Try to suppress your magic,” Zynrick whispered before he was pushed and was forced to follow the blond man as the guard and I trailed behind them. Both of us had two securities on each of our sides so I didn't dare to make a move. Who knows what kind of weapon they have.

We were put in a cell before the man said, “I’m sorry for the treatment. I just can’t trust you especially after knowing that you came from Al.” The man was smiling but he way he said it was full of resentment but Zyrick just smiled.

“Of course, we understand,” He said and the man nodded and left us with his guards tailing him.