A Tale Beyond Destiny

Chapter 1: The Plan (Caliana)

“Did you finally realize that locking yourself up in your own room is nonsense?” That was the first question that my Father asked me as soon as I went inside the dining hall of the palace.

He was sitting on the head seat of the long dining table in that hall. My Mother was sitting on his right side, while an eating utensil could be found on his left side for me.

I did not bother to answer his question because I knew that he would just scold me again because I had been missing in action for almost a week. I just sat on his left side, silently, because I already knew that there was nothing good would happen if I talked to him.

“You’ve been locking yourself up for almost a week, then you will show yourself now without any explanation?” he asked me in disbelief, but still, I did not bother to answer him. “I did not know that you could be this impolite.”

I just let out a sigh as I kept on asking myself why I decided to go out of my room when I knew that this kind of thing would happen. After all, nothing has changed for my Father ever since that day that I decided to finally talk back to him.

I was not just sulking in my room though. I have been planning every step that I would take in order for me to leave this palace that I never really considered as my home. I was planning to escape from this prison that my Father had made for me. This place that suffocated me for almost all my life.

No one knew about that plan, not even my Mother nor him, because I tried as hard as I could so that they would not catch me trying to escape from this palace, because I knew that my plan would just fail because of them.

“Aren’t you going to answer me?” my Father asked, impatiently, because I was just eating silently without even bothering to answer his questions.

It’s pointless after all. It would just cause a never-ending fight between the two of us again. It would just make him more irritated than he ever was, and as I had said earlier, I knew that nothing good would happen if we fought again.

I’ve grown tired of everything that he was doing to me, that’s why I just choose to stay silent. After all, any hour from now, I will be able to escape this place. This place has been my most hated one because of him.

“Great,” he said in a sarcastic tone. “Now you keep on ignoring me as if you cannot hear any single thing.” He then glared at me as he stopped eating just to ask me, “What’s happening to you, really?”

That was the moment that I looked at him with a tired expression on my face. “I just thought that it was pointless for me to answer your questions, Father.” I let out a tired sigh too to show him that I'd lost my interest in talking back at him. “Because I know that even if I answer you or not, you will just scold me in the end.” I glared at him, and I did not bother to get affected of his cold gaze. “Why don’t you just scold me now that I’m just sitting silently, huh?”

I gave him a challenging look as I dared him to say the things that he wanted to say to me.

“Caliana,” my Mother called my name in a warning tone to stop me, but I did not pay any attention to her because I was still looking at my Father who was now glaring fiercely at me.

“Come on,” I told him as I glared at him too. “Why don’t you say those things now? What was it again?” I acted as if I was thinking that he would say to me at that time.

“Caliana,” my Mother called my name to stop me again, but I did not look in her direction.

Instead, I clapped my hands once as if I had finally figured out what I was thinking. “Like, ‘Do you think that is how a princess would act?’ or like ‘Are you really out of your mind because you didn’t follow any of my instructions again?’” I looked at him as I acted as if I am my Father. “You will say something like that, right? Why don’t you start now when I am just silently sitting here? Why do you have to ask me to answer you if you just say that I’m talking back at you?”

He looked at me in disbelief. “Are you out of your mind right now?”

I scoffed because he said the same thing that I told him earlier. “See?” I told him as I glared at him again. “You will say that kind of thing to me, because you don’t know anything but to scold me and nothing else.”

“Caliana,” my Mother called my name again, and this time, I looked in her direction. I could see that she was trying to stay calm, even though my Father and I were fighting in front of her. “Stop this right now,” she said to me, which made me laugh a little.

“Why would I stop?” I asked her as I pointed at my Father who was just looking at me with his deadly glare. “He kept on saying things as if I was in the wrong here, even though I had never really done anything. Do you think that I would stop if he kept on scolding me for pointless things?”

“He’s still your Father, Caliana.” She looked at me as if saying that I should stop now, or else, something bad would happen to me again. Just like what happened last week.

“Really?” I asked in a sarcastic tone. “Well, I guess that I never felt that he was my Father.” I then looked at my Father’s direction again, and I saw that cold glare he was giving me. “Because it really felt like I am just nothing but a puppet that he could control with every words that he say.”

I stood up from my seat and I did not bother to finish my food after I said that. I immediately went to walk out of that dining hall because it felt like I could not take his words anymore. I could not even make myself look at him anymore.

“Where are you going?” My Father shouted at me.

I looked behind him again, for the last time, as I said, “I will leave now.” I turned to walk again as I mumbled to myself, “I'd lost my appetite as soon as you started saying that kind of thing again.”

I did not bother to turn my head again when I heard him call my name. I just kept on walking in the direction of my room as I did not bother to look at anything in particular.

“I really need to leave right now,” I whispered to myself as soon as I closed the door of my room. “Or else, I might really go insane if I live on the same roof as him,” I said, as if I was not talking about my Father.

I never felt that he was Father though, because I knew that I was just a mere puppet to him that he thought he could control. I was just nothing to him, and it looked like he did not even consider me as his daughter.

I looked on the table beside my bed where the book that I found at the library could be seen. Of course, no one knew about that book because I secretly stole it from the palace’s library.

That book contains the information that I needed to have in order for me to leave this world.

Yes, the world of Asphodel and not just this palace, because I knew that my Father would be able to find me if I would just hide myself from the village in this world.

I also knew that I would never be able to find the freedom that I wanted if I kept myself hidden somewhere in this world. I would never have a chance to have that happiness that I wanted to feel. It would just feel like the same. It would just feel like I was still in his grasp if I did that.

That’s why I have decided that I should go and live in another world where he can not find me any longer. In a world where he could not do anything to me. A world where I could do the things that I wanted without anyone controlling me. A world where I could find freedom that I never really had in this world.

I looked at the particular page where I found out how I could make a portal to another world. A portal that would lead me to the life that I wanted to have. I read the words that were on that page, silently.

‘When the sun, the moon, and the world align,

And the whole world is enveloped by darkness like never been before,

A door to another world will open,

Once these words will be said in front of the flowing life’

“The flowing life,” I mumbled to myself as I read the phrase again.

The flowing life that this book was talking about was the river that could be found in the forest that was dividing the palace from the small village that was near to it.

The book also stated the spell that I needed to use so that the portal would open completely, and I immediately memorized that spell so that I didn’t have to bring this book with me.

“All I have to do is to go there right now and say the exact spell, and I will have a chance to leave this palace,” I said to myself again as I smiled at myself.

I might never have a chance again, because this is the day where the sun, the moon, and the world will align. I still didn’t know when it could happen again. That’s why this was the safest day that I could do this. The day that I would leave this place that I never called my home.

I looked outside again, and I saw the sun was still visible, but I knew that any time from now, that phenomenon would happen and I might miss it if I did not move now.

With that thought in my mind, I immediately went to get my cloak as I did not bother to get any of my clothes because I was already in a hurry. I then immediately went to open my door, but my heart beat fast because I couldn’t open it.

“Did someone lock it from the outside?” I asked myself as I tried to calm myself so that I could think of any other way.

“Do you think that I will never know about your plan?” I stopped and flinched because I heard my Father’s booming voice on the other side of the door. “Do you think that I will not be able to ever figure out your plan to escape, Caliana?”

I did not bother to answer him as I looked around my room to find ways for me to leave this palace immediately.

I had to do this. I had to, or else, my life would just stay the same. My Father would control me all over again, and I know that I would never have a chance to do this kind of thing again.

After all, even if I didn’t know how, he finally figured out my plans. My plan that I carefully made for me to find the freedom that I wanted to have.

I did not bother to think of how he found out about my plans. Instead, I looked around my room again to find something, or anything, that I could use for me to escape. I looked around again, until my eyes fell on my open window.

I know that my room was on the third floor of this palace, but that was the only thing that I could use to escape. That was the only thing that I could use for me to find the freedom that I wanted.

“If I do not try now, I will never have a chance anymore,” I mumbled to myself as I started to make my mind work immediately.

First, I decided to lock my door from the inside and tie a blanket tightly to the handle so that he would not be able to open the door easily.

Then, I made a rope using the other blankets that I could find in my room. I made sure that it was long enough for it to reach the ground.

“Caliana!” I heard my father shout as the knob of my door rattled. “Do you really think that you can escape from me?” He shouted again and I heard a loud bang on the other side of my door.

I hurriedly threw the rope-like blankets that I made outside my window, and I started to climb down, as I did not bother to look back so that I would be able to escape my Father’s rage.

Luckily, I found out that there was no one on the ground that was waiting for me, so that they could easily get me after I got down. The whole place was silent and I am thankful that my Father did not instruct his knight to follow me.

I let out a sigh of relief, but I immediately ran when I heard a loud bang in my room again, and I knew that my Father had already managed to open my door.

“What do you think you’re doing?” I heard my Father shout, so I immediately ran away from him. “Follow her! Hurry!”

I immediately ran to the nearest exit because I could already hear the hurried footsteps of the knights of my Father. I could also hear his voice, and I knew that he was still near me.

“There is Lady Caliana!” Someone shouted and made me look back and I immediately ran faster than before because they started chasing me.

I looked up at the sky and I could not stop myself from cursing because I saw that the phenomenon had already started.

“I need to run in the forest immediately,” I mumbled to myself.

“Caliana!” I did not bother to look back when I heard my Father’s angry voice.

I focused on running away from them as fast as I could. Even if I already felt so tired, and even if I was becoming breathless every second, I did not stop until I reached the forest where the river that the book had stated could be found.

“I’m almost there,” I said to myself, determined to go to that river at all costs.

I would not let anyone stop me from doing this. I would not let my Father catch me when the freedom that I wanted was already in my grasp. I would not let him take away this chance that I would be able to run away from him.

“Caliana!” I looked back at my Father who was still chasing after me, before I looked at where I was running to.

I immediately entered the forest when I had a chance, and went to where the river is. I hid myself in one of the trees first, because I could still hear my Father’s shout and his knight’s hurried footsteps.

I had just got out of my hiding spot when I heard one of the knights say that my Father should look for me at the nearest village in the palace; which I was thankful for, because I could finally use the spell and open the portal completely so that I could finally live the life that I wanted.

I looked up at the sky as I started to mumble the spell that I needed, and in no time, a portal opened in front of me.

I got excited because of the thought that finally, finally, I could live the life that I wanted to have in this new world. I could finally have the freedom that I never had in Asphodel. I could finally do the things that I wanted without anyone controlling me.

With that in mind, I did not even look back as I started to enter the portal that would lead me to another world.