CURSED: The Last of Five Kingdoms.

Episode18-It has begun

"It will interest you that apart from the nine known planets that there is a hidden alternate universe known as THE FIVE KINGDOMS." Professor Toad scrambles something on the board and when he makes it visible, it is the names of the five kingdoms. "Antigon, care to tell us something. Anything about the five kingdoms?"

Mael thanks his stars that Mrs. Vandisia had found it worthy to give him a clue about the five kingdoms, if not, he would have been an embarrassment and a laughing stock to Professor Edward AKA Professor Toad who already hates him for no reason.

Standing upright, "The Five Kingdoms all have one thing in common. Omiri. He is the creator, father and King of the five." Mael voice booms.

"That is correct. Thank you, Antigon "

Mael sits back, earning a well done silent clap from Harry.

"The five Kingdoms were original one. Prosperous, happy, strong and at peace. Then King Omiri took for himself five wives which bore five sons for him. Deciding that he wanted his family and citizens safe and protected from war, he made a decree that whosoever would bring him powers tag he will bestow on his sons, shall rule by his side. The wind carried the message far and wide, around the city and outside the kingdoms until it got to a very powerful witch. The first witch. An original. Nimshi by name. That was during the Peaceful era. A period as old as the earth. When she arrived, she told the king that the Oracles have given her five powers to bestow on his sons and due to his good intentions that he has also been chosen to get one of the powers." Throwing a sheet of paper on the red hair that Mael earlier stood close to during the recitation, "sleep again and I will make sure that you turn to sleeping beauty."

The boy is startled and sits upright.

"That goes for the rest of you. It is disrespectful that the history about a beautiful place where most of the planets borrowed their civilisation from is ongoing and you are sleeping. Does anyone else want to try?"

Everyone keeps an alert attitude and stops slouching.

"That is better. Ah, yes. The powers. Nimshi gave the King and his first son the power of the Vampire. They were the strongest in the land and the whole world. The second she an Ice King, third a fire king and the last she made a witch. She sealed it off by forming a sword which is known as the sword of Omiri. Until an Original breaths his last, that is the only thing that can kill them. The King and Nimshi both hid the sword away from everyone. The five brothers ruled alongside their father, peacefully and as one. Both taking for himself a wife and giving birth to so many children. They all lived a long long long long happy life until they breathed their last. Thousands of years later, out of greed and jealousy, the kingdoms broke into war. Killing and creating enmity between. It got so bad with the bloodshed that it turned every man for himself. The one peaceful Kingdom now broke into five Kingdoms and the first bloodlines became the

rulers of each. They were all at peace as far as you stay in your Kingdom. Not until that Prophecy was revealed and another war broke out."

The school bell rings, "that will be all for today. We continue with the prophecy, the second war and details of the five kingdoms in our next class. Until then, read about the Kingdom of Antigon."

The students pack up their books and hurry off to the next class.

"Just when the class got interesting, the school bell had to ring," Melody grunts in frustration.

"Don't worry. I learnt that we will be having the class for two semesters." Mael says.

The rest of the day goes by in a blur. They were herded from one classroom to the next like cattle. They got in trouble a few times with Hunters for being at the wrong place. There is barely time for any frivolity except for a short lunch break that ended as soon as it started. It made Mael wonder what it would have been like if I got into a normal College. Maybe by now, he would have memorized the right doors, how to get through them and what to do at every given time. They would have been having normal classes and the teachers looking less ancient. It would have been good to be close to civilisation.

Here, Mael and Harry have little time to catch up as both of them are engaged in one activity or the other. The school finds a way to keep everybody busy. Apart from the normal side comments and murmuring, Mael doesn't get much attention and that keeps Harry away from fights. On Harry's side, the assignments given, he looks for a way to take care of them because Mael who will have done it for him has little knowledge of everything going on.

The last class which is Horticulture ends at six o'clock. As soon as the bell rings, the students troop out from the classroom. Getting to the hallway, Mael, Harry and Melody meet Duke.

"Hi, Duke," Melody waves eagerly at him.

Just as Duke opens his mouth to respond, the messengers bring a white envelope for everyone within the school premises.

"Hi, Antigon. My name is Eugene. I am your messenger."

Mael looks at his messenger before shaking him. "It is nice to meet you, Eugene," Mael says in a polite voice.

Mael's messenger has a boy's body, normal feet and hands, blonde hair and a rabbit's face. A rabbit's face.

"Hi, Harry. I am Sky. Your messenger." A beautiful girl says to Harry.

"Hi, Melody. I am David. Your messenger." Melody's messenger has a boy's body also but the face of a dove.

"We are here to serve you. The three says in unison."

Bending over, "why does Harry get a messenger with a normal face and we get ones with the face of animals."

"Everyone gets a messenger that represents their heart. Yours being a rabbit means, energy and kindness. Melody's means freedom and readiness while Hardy's means tenderness and braveness." Pointing to his which is a boy with the face of an eagle, "mine is readiness and strength. We get what a part of us represents. Quick open your notification."

"The school is aware that the world has evolved and we have technology which makes sending and receiving messages easy."

"They keep certain technology away from here. You know, security reasons." Duke says reading his message.

The four messengers give a slight bow to their masters and vanish into thin air. The four of them walks back to the dining for dinner. Thankfully, with the help of Duke, they make it on time to the dining.

"Are we eating that terrible protection soup that we had in the morning again?"

"Not at all. "

Everyone goes to their house, seats before their plates and cups which already has their initials. Seconds later, their plates become filled with porridge that smells so nice. It looks mouthwatering too."This looks promising!" Mael says excitedly.

"It is one of my favourite meals. Porridge with the revelation spell. After this, we are having classes on Vampirology."

Mael has been looking forward to this particular class. In a way, he is excited and nervous as this is something that has to do with him directly.

At seven-thirty that night, after dinner, Mael, Harry, Duke and the other Omiris hurries down the front steps onto the grounds for their first vampire lesson. It is a cloudy, breezy evening, and the whole school is quiet. Unusually quiet.

"Remind me again why we are having this class so late into the night?"

"Because Vampires have their full potentials at night," Duke says with somewhat of a pity glittering in his eyes.

Honestly, Mael jas Duke to be grateful for. Because he is lacking in most of the information and without Duke, he would be lost, unaware and less informed. Harry who was always getting

attention and that made him popular hasn't gotten much of that here. No one cares about your physical appearance or athletic body. The only popular people were the Professors, Prefects, Messengers and Hunters. Every other person is a regular and helpless student.

The class is in the school's Underground. Very chilling and scary. The school scares one. With the talking doors, people with glowing ice, strange creatures, until you get used to it, you will always be scared out of your mind.

"Welcome to Vampireology," Rabbi Humbledore greets. His appearance has become pale, away from the warm and not so friendly personality that had earlier welcomed us. His eyes are glowing and empty. When he speaks, fangs could be seen. He looks like death itself. As if you will freeze to death once you touch him.

" Vampires are the oldest creatures. Beautiful but unpredictable. Many people have created the wrong impression that they are evil and murderers. Well, that was and might still be true. The earliest generation of vampires found it hard to control themselves. But they shouldn't be blamed and judge based on that. Just as every evolving thing struggles with finding and learning about themselves. Vampires had to deal with the struggle of learning what they are. It took some mistakes for them to grown into better creatures. They faced the problem of lusting after anything that had a life force in it which wasn't like them. They had a high sense of pleasure and could never be satisfied. And they were afraid of the daylight which is why they were referred to as Nightwalkers."

"Everything here keeps getting interesting," Harry whispers to Mael and Melody.

"Shhhhhhhh," a boy from the house of Moon glares at Harry before turning his focus back to the professor.

"Harrison, do you have something interesting that you are willing to share with the class?"

"N...n..o, sir," Harry shutters.

"Good. Keep quiet because a lecture from Vampireology could save your life." He snarls at Mael but turns back immediately to the rest of the class. "Ah, vampires." Scrambles something in the board that reads, 'The blood drawn gives back the life taken.'

"This class is creepy." Harry writes on a piece of paper and tosses it to Mael.

Mael reads it and laughs then write back, "the whole school is creepy. Pay attention. Rabbi has eyes and ears everywhere."

"Over the years, we have grown far away from lusting after blood. Although it wi come. Yes, it will get serious and you will feel it on full moons, with the revelation portion that is always added to the porridge served, it won't get as severe as it is supposed to. Especially for beginners. Before the end of your time here, you will learn how to deal with it without any portion or whatsoever." Humbledore produces a sharp knife and rabbit from his messenger who appears from nowhere. His messenger looks different from all the messengers that have been seen around school. His own is floating around like a ghost. Short black hair that stops around his shoulder, an adult face that has a striking resemblance to that of Humbledore, only that it is younger. He looks mystical but real. It is on the same colour of the robe like that of Rabbi Humbledore. And disappears as soon as it appears.

"That is one of our qualities as vampires, being able to connect with the supernatural including the dead," Humbledore says with pride in his tone.

That clears the air. His messenger is a ghost.

"Of course, it doesn't come easy. You will have to get attached with your messenger then practice before you can be able to do this." With the sharp knife, "watch and see." Cutting himself and the rabbit, there is blood dropping on the floor. His yes turn violent and red. His fangs draw out and his pupils dilate.

"This is one of the things that happen when you lose your self-control. As a vampire, you need self-control more than anything. The negativity is what we focus our interest on here. The positivities that come with being a vampire, we leave you to self-discovery. Like rapid healing," he raises where he had just cut himself, wipes it with a clean clothe and it has healed. "You also have the sense of smell, speed and in some cases, flight."

"No wonder my hands healed up when I cut myself in the train," Mael murmurs.

"I need three of..."

"Rabbi! There is an issue that needs your attention," Professor Mackenzie says in-between breathe as she appears from Hunters.

"Do not leave here. Don't touch anything and no messing around," Humbledore orders as he disappears with Professor Mackenzie.

************

Rabbi Humbledore and Professor Mackenzie go through Hunters to where the recitation ground. Getting there, the ice holding the roots of the oak tree has cracked.

"What happened?" Humbledore asks, looking around as if doing so will change what has already happened.

"We were doing the binding spell-like always, then the moon went dark and the Ice cracked but continuing with the spell, the Moon revealed itself again but the Ice didn't heal."

"This has never happened before. If the Ice can crack, that means the school needs more spells because it is no longer safe. Have you called out the sword?"

"You know what will happen once we do so."

"We have no choice but to do it. We have him here. We can no longer take things easily. We have to show him."

"It is not yet time. Pushing him just because we are desperate might hurt him and us."

"Judith, we don't have much of a choice. Unless you want to bring in the counsel. We have enjoyed peace for way too long that we got comfortable and forgot that we need to prepare for war. What has happened today is a message that we shouldn't ignore? We will seek Rimalon when the counsel is complete."

"We can' put our hope on Rimalon. You know that she hardly reveals herself."

"We hope that isn't the case for us."

"Keep everything that has happened between us. The students will have to stay away from recitation for now. Find some other thing to occupy them with. No one comes around this vicinity. Seal it off with a forgetting spell."

"Yes, Rabbi."

Both of them clamps their hand together, bow their hands and begin to recite, "If death is what you wish, take my body but not my soul. To serve you Omiri, guide us. From Omiri we come. The sun, moon, star and truth, guide us."

Professor Mackenzie goes away from the recitation ground first through a different Hunters while Humbledore returns to class.

"Class dismissed. Everyone proceed to the Banquet Hall." Humbledore says as soon as he gets back to the class.

The confused students begin hurling their books into backpacks and rushing out of class. Mael is in the process of putting the last sets of his books into his backpack when Humbledore stops him. Already waiting Harry and Melody slides away behind an open door.

"Antigon, I am not comfortable with the unnecessary attention that you have been drawing. This school is for everyone and you are special. Don't make it about you.

"Hunters, I want to go to the Banquet Hall," Mael says almost giving up as the words left his mouth.

"I am sorry, Rabbi. None of that is my intention. It comes..."

"I know who you are, Omiri. The idea is not to bring the battle to us before we are fully prepared. A war is coming, we don't need to lose before it even starts. Join the others in the Banquet Hall."

"Yes, Rabbi."

Mael with his face down walks to Hunters. Others have successfully passed and gone to the Banquet Hall but Mael is stuck with an angry Rabbi and a closed door."

"Hunters, please I want to get to the Banquet Hall, allow me access."

Ignoring him for seconds, "son of Hercules. You have been quite a story around. Whispers of your name are heard in every corner."

"Like I am making it clear, it is not my intention to make it so. Please allow me access to the Banquet Hall."

"Of course," Hunters opens a pathway for Mael to follow.