Captured Princess

Ạlwṣy

Just as what Shanaia told her grandfather, she spent every day of her stay in the village, investigating and gathering every information she could find about the statue. Even if she went to interview the oldest people of the village, the only information they could provide was something close to what her grandfather already told her.

With her phone, she wrote down every piece of information she gathered, taking photos of every possible evidence. But at the end of the day, it is still not enough for her.

“This is really driving me crazy,”

Shanaia huffed as she paced in front of the statue.

After she was done with her interview, she made her way toward the location where she knew the statue was. She sat by the boulder in front of the stream as she read all she had written, and when she still felt like there was a big chunk of information missing, that’s when she stood up and started pacing.

When she stopped pacing, she turned in the direction of the statue.

“Why can’t they see you? You were here all this time and somehow you are invisible to their eyes. What is your story?”

Shanaia spoke toward the direction of the statue as if she were speaking to it.

“You do know that thing won’t answer you,”

Once again, Shanaia was startled when the white-haired lady appeared.

“It's you again,” Shanaia mumbled.

“I could say the same. You came here almost every day, complaining.”

The white-haired lady replied.

Shanaia narrowed her eyes on her.

“You were watching me,” she said through her gritted teeth.

“It’s quite difficult not to since you are pretty loud and your golden hair stood out among all the earth colors,” the white-haired lady replied, making Shanaia scowl.

‘Stalker,’

Shanaia thought and then she cleared her throat.

“You know, you can tell me your name because I am so tired of calling you the white-haired lady in my head,” Shanaia said.

The lady frowned.

“You don’t know my name?”

Shanaia crossed her arms over her chest.

“I wouldn’t ask if I knew in the first place,” she grumbled.

“But you knew,”

Shanaia was confused by the white-haired lady’s reply. She continued to look at her, studying her every move, even trying to listen to her mumbling.

“It’s been so long… maybe she has a bad memory,”

What she could make up from the lady’s mumbling confused Shanaia even more.

“I don’t have a bad memory,” Shanaia said.

The lady looked at her.

“But you don’t remember my name,”

Shanaia groaned.

“I don’t remember because I don’t know. And you don’t know my name as well,” She pressed.

The lady crossed her arms over her chest while pinching her chin.

“Weird…”

“My name is not weird. You’re weird,”

Shanaia grumbled and then the lady let out a sigh of defeat before she spoke.

“

Ạlwṣy,”

Shanaia furrowed her eyebrows.

“Huh?”

“My name. It’s Ạlwṣy,”

“What kind of name is that?” Shanaia asked.

“The only name I was given,” Ạlwṣy answered.

Still confused, Shanaia turned to her phone and scrolled through it.

“Can you speak your name again?” she asked the lady.

“Ạlwṣy,”

She spoke and Shanaia used an app on her phone to translate or search for the name.

One word appeared in the search.

Guardian.

Shanaia looked at her.

“Guardian. Your name means guardian.” Shanaia said.

“That’s what it means?” Ạlwṣy asked and Shanaia nodded.

Then all of a sudden, Ạlwṣy took a step closer to Shanaia and took her phone from her hand.

“Hey!”

Shanaia screamed as she tried to take her phone back but Ạlwṣy was too busy and too awed by the gadget.

“This thing really fascinates me,” Ạlwṣy said as she inspected Shanaia’s phone in awe.

Shanaia huffed and gave up in trying to get it from Ạlwṣy’s hands. She then took a step back and stood there as she flicked her wrist, making her phone fly from Ạlwṣy’s hands to hers.

The white-haired lady’s eyes widened as she looked at the gadget in Shanaia’s hands.

“WOW!”

“Playtime’s over, lady. You will tell me everything I need to know and you will not leave that spot until I tell you to,” Shanaia spoke with authority and Ạlwṣy’s face turned serious as she straightened her back.

“If you wish,”

Shanaia was inwardly taken aback by her sudden change in demeanor. It’s like she just flipped a switch and then she’s in all business mode. It made Shanaia turn all business mode as well.

“You are from around here, right?” she asked and Ạlwṣy nodded.

Her answer made Shanaia doubt her as her clothes looked really different from the people living in the tribe. The people in the tribe may not wear expensive-looking clothes like those in Stone Castle but they fit the modern society, while Ạlwṣy wears a dress that is close to rags.

“You can see the statue?”

Shanaia asked and Ạlwṣy once again nodded.

“You and I can see the statue but somehow, the people in the village can’t,”

Shanaia said and Ạlwṣy looked confused.

“What do you mean they can’t see? The village people would always visit and pay their respects,” Ạlwṣy said, and now it's Shanaia’s turn to frown in confusion.

“I don’t think none of the people in the village has been here as they cannot even see the statue. All they see is the stream.” Shanaia reasoned.

Ạlwṣy pursed her lips and furrowed her eyebrows as she thought.

“That was strange. I am always here and my lady’s people would always visit her. They would offer a prayer every morning before they start their day in the fields,” Ạlwṣy said.

My lady? Fields?

Shanaia was wondering what fields Ạlwṣy was talking about. The village has no fields as it has grown modern over time. Not modern like California and New York but like a small town in Texas. And who is this lady she is speaking of? Her master or something?

Shanaia then made a mental note to investigate the whole place early in the morning and find out about the lady Ạlwṣy was talking about. Then she looked at Ạlwṣy again.

“What is your role here?” Shanaia asked.

“I guard the place,”

******************************.

Everything that Ạlwṣy said has piqued Shanaia’s interest.

After dinner, Shanaia went out by the pool and read the notes she had taken with Ạlwṣy. She sat on one of the lounging chairs, getting comfortable as she read.

“How was your investigation today?”

Shanaia turned around and saw her Uncle Styx.

“It’s fine,” she answered.

“I was informed that you have spoken to everyone in the village, and interviewed them like you are some kind of researcher,” Styx said as he sat on the lounging chair next to his niece.

“Well, I am researching,” she replied.

“I don’t know if being obsessed with certain things is something you and your brothers inherited from your mother or your father,”

Styx spoke, putting his hands behind his head, using them as a pillow.

“Obsessed is such a strong word,”

“Then what do you prefer to call it?”

“We are just driven,”

Shanaia said and Styx gave her a deadpan look.

Styx thought that driven was such an understatement as her brother, Crane had spent almost all of his hours in a day inside their father’s laboratory, studying and joining Alpha Creon’s experiments. Seb, their youngest has caught the interest in sculpting and has been focused on it, and now Shanaia who was once the normal one has become obsessed with uncovering the truth and everything about the ancient tribe, the statue, and Hanwi.

Styx huffed.

“So, my well-driven niece. What have you found out?” he asked.

“Well, they all say the same – they haven’t seen the statue,” she answered.

“I told you –“

“But I found someone who does,”

Shanaia blurted, cutting off her uncle’s sentence.

“What?”

Styx asked, turning towards his niece. Shanaia looked at him and smiled.

“I said, I found someone who has seen and has been seeing the statue,”