The Scarlet Phoenix and the Prince of Winter

Chapter Fifty Four

I heard a lot of voices when I arrived at the town square. At first, I thought that they were noises of people getting riled up and I was about to defend myself using my flames but then a round of applause erupted. That made me turn around and then I saw the people clapping at me.

"Long live, our dear deity!" they shouted and it made me feel giddy for some reason. My knees felt like jelly for some reason while I watch and listen to them chant my name with praises. One of them was even holding a miniature of me which I think was one of the statues that Volo told me about. It certainly did not look like me, but I have to admire their craftsmanship. Not even my Gypsies could make something like that.

"Finally, you are here," said Volo who suddenly appeared out of nowhere and now was beside me. This was also one of his traits that used to irritate me. Since he can manipulate the northern wind, he travels with it thus enabling him to appear and disappear anywhere at will using the icy winds. "For a second, I thought that you were about to stand me up."

I eyed him with mock disgust. "Oh please. I did not tell you that I was going here so you can't say that."

"But you are here. So that means something, you know," he said with a smile plastered on his face and he suddenly took my hands and pulled me into the center of the town square where a tall pile of gifts was placed there. "Here are some of their produce. They want to give it to you, Alfiora."

My eyes widened with what he just told me for the pile of fruits, vegetables, and seafood were large enough to feed the whole town. "Is this all for me? I will not be able to consume this all by myself!"

"Then give the rest to your Gypsies," he told me. "They are coming here too, right?"

I nodded because he was right. My followers are coming here too because I informed them that I was going to attend the festivities of the mortals. They were shocked at first that I would even consider mingling with the mortals, but they were also happy that I was going. They probably thought that this was a new beginning for me and them also. Having a good relationship with the people of Aure would be a good help to us, after all.

"That's good. They will surely enjoy this day," Volo said happily and I was starting to wonder why on earth he looked so happy for such a small thing. It was not as if I was so vain to not consider coming here. He even said so himself that I certainly don't hate the mortals. So to me, he's acting a little over the top. This was not something that was too impossible to happen.

"You make me feel irritable, Volo," I said frankly to his smiling face. "Stop making my appearance here such a big deal."

He laughed heartily at that. "You can't blame me for being too happy that you are here. I have always wanted you here," he added and I almost smacked him in the head with my fiery hands.

I just ignored him after that because I feel so weird when he was acting close like that with me. Maybe I am not just used to him being friendly to me as we never interacted before other than meeting casually and looking eye to eye. But right now that he could even tease me.

So I pretended that everything was normal and fine and just went on to talk with the locals. I have learned from them that the place where we are here right now was a newly-built town by a huge family of fishermen. This place was facing the northern seas. It was beautiful in here, as there were hills at the south where the crops were planted. I also noticed that the people here were very down-to-earth. They would always apologize to me when I ask them about certain things. They would always think that they were lacking. They were so different from my followers.

The celebration was starting to get noisier so I excused myself first from them. The elders were talking to me about how they always wanted to meet and talk to me in person and I was genuinely happy hearing that from them but once they got drunk they were already doing things that made me cringe so I decided to finally leave them.

I decided to go to the shore and stare at the sky which was starting to darken. It was very beautiful in here. The colors of the setting sun and the sky complimented the water very well. It was like art and it filled my spirit with such power. I was meditating when I felt another presence in here.

"Why are you here?" asked Volo who was now behind me. I was beginning to hate him for good because of his habit of appearing next to me without a warning. "Were you bored with the celebrations?"

I nodded. "I did not know what to do next when they started drinking."

He chuckled. "Mortals get drunk from drinking alcoholic drinks, you know."

"That's unfortunate."

He looked scandalized by my opinion. "What are you saying, Alfiora? It is not unfortunate! In fact, they are the luckier than us because they can get drunk!"

That confused me. "What are you talking about? How is being drunk lucky? To me, that is a form of weakness."

"Is it though?" he asked and I wanted to strangle him for challenging me when we both know that I was right. "Are you really weak just because you could get drunk by drinking some type of those alcoholic drinks that those mortals make?"

"Yes, Volo, you are a weak creature if you get drunk from drinking something that you brew."

"Okay, that might be a good point, but I think that is the purpose of those drinks. They brew and drink it because they wanted to get drunk in the first place."

I was starting to lose my cool because this conversation was starting to get out of my control. "They are fools then," I just said. "Why are we even talking about this? I don't care even if they get intoxicated for the rest of their short lives."

Volo chuckled again and I could feel that he was really enjoying pissing me off. "You know what, you need to mingle with the mortals more so that you learn about their traditions and their characters."

"I don't think I need that."

"You know what I learned from mingling with them especially the Royal Family is that there are a lot of things that we could not do just because we are not mortals like them," Volo said sincerely. I watched him stare at the darkening horizon too and I copied him. "Because they don't live for centuries and centuries, they do everything that makes them happy, even if it looks foolish."

"Well, isn't that a disadvantage? Not being to live longer than you wanted to?"

"It depends on how you see it. Maybe for us since we live longer, we see them as inferior."

"Well, I suppose that is true," I agreed because to be honest, that is how I exactly see them. Mortals have a very short lifespan. And they age fast. Every time I wake up from my hibernation I would find out that some of my Gypsies have died, and to me, that is the unluckiest trait of their race. Plus, they are susceptible to plagues and diseases while deities like me and Volo could not get sick. I haven't experienced a fever in my entire existence and to me, that is the essence of being a deity.

"But despite their short lifespan, the mortals live better than us. They experience things that we will never get to experience, just like having a family. Having a child. Falling in love. Or even simple things like getting drunk."

My forehead creased from contemplation. I know that what he was telling me was right, despite how it sounds so ridiculous. But now that I am thinking about it, it does not look ridiculous to me anymore. Take for example my followers, yes, they die. But they also give birth to daughters and sons that would continue their race. That is something that I could never do.

"I tried drinking their wine, you know," he then told me with a laugh. "But I did not get drunk. What a shame. I always wanted to experience how to get drunk."

"You're starting to become foolish like the mortals," I told him frankly. "Of course, you will not get drunk. Your body will resist the drink's after-effects."

Volo nodded. "That is why I told you that mortals are lucky. I wanted to experience how that feels."

"But why do you want to experience it?"

"That's easy," he said simply. "The mortals told me that if you are intoxicated, your mind and body become numb to a certain point. You become loose. Suddenly, you don't care about anything else in the whole, wide world. Now, isn't that lucky? To be able to throw away a day of your life?"

"That's... that's debatable," I told him. "Just like you said, it depends on how you see it. For me, that sounds like a burden."

"That's why I told you to mingle with them more so that you'll understand what I am talking about," he replied. "Even with just your Gypsies. Bond with them and study them. You'll be surprised with what you will discover."

"And what is that?" I asked him.

He shrugged. "You'll understand why I envy the mortals. You'll understand the real difference between living and just existing."

I did not know what he meant by that. But I would be lying if I told him that I was not interested in what he was talking about in the slightest. It confused me because something about what he said feels like it hit me big time. Was he really right? Are the mortals really living better? Am I just existing?

Those were the questions in my head while I prepare myself to sleep for the next months. Winter was finally here in Aure and Volo was already in his element. He had warned everyone by now since winter is usually harsh in this kingdom. He even helped the locals to temporarily move away from their homes, especially in that newly-built town where we attended their celebrations. Volo kept on calling that place Plumba, a name he got from seeing the locals wear clothes made from some seabird's plumes.

I hibernated in peace and when I woke up, the first thing I heard were loud explosions. I immediately went out of my volcano home and flew to the sky to see what was going on. I went to the castle on top of the valley, and there I saw that the guards were in a battle. I think there is a war as I saw a lot of people fighting over the flower field just below the valley.

I was in my fiery bird form when I showed up. Everyone stopped when they saw me as this was the first time that I appeared after a couple of months. Then I saw the current King of Aure. He was in his battle gear too and he was calling my name.

"My dear deity! It is good to see you! Please help us! We are now in the middle of a war!"

"What? Who are you fighting against with?"

"It's the kingdom in the west called Hayoko," he replied.

"Hayoko? That's a very far kingdom already! How did they find your kingdom? I planted an enchanted garden at the borders to lure invaders out of here!"

"They are strong too, my dear deity," the King replied sadly. "They have a deity with them too."

"Really? Who? And where is Volo? He should have helped you with this situation!"

"They managed to capture the deity of winter, my dear deity. Their deity, which is a deity of the sea, had made it possible to capture the great deity, Volo!"