Battling The Golden Queen

Don't Tell Jackie!

"I am going to die" She said to herself as she began pulling herself away. 

"No you're not!" She heard herself say. This shocked her. 

"Wait what? Who said that?" She asked in confusion as she realized she had spoken without her control. Was her mouth speaking on it's own now. 

"Keep quiet you coward!" Her mouth said again. Before she could understand what was going on she began to feel herself lift up the ground. She had no control over her body anymore. Her hands began to twitch and a pink flame ball began to release from both her palms. A very strong wind began blowing all around knocking down weak trees. The bright sky turned cloudy and her eyes suddenly turned pink. 

"What's happening to me?!" She asked as she screeched in pain. 

"LET ME DO MY JOB!" She heard her evil side screamed at her before unleashing a pink strong chain unto the now confused bear neck tightening it. The bear got scared and tried breaking free but her evil side was so powerful. The bear began whimpering and struggling to breathe. 

"Leave it alone! Do not kill it '' Helia pleaded, trying to break free of this torment and setting the bear free since she hadn't wanted its death but her evil side overpowered her making the chain even tighter. 

"Leave me alone! I don't wish to kill the bear! Let him go!" She pleaded, trying to fight off the power.

"No! Who do you think you are to tell me what to do?! You are no one to me. You mean nothing to me!" Her evil side yelled and laughed maniacally, increasing the force. The wind blew stronger and the clouds got darker. Helia could feel tears drip down her face. She tried so hard to break free but had no control over what she was doing. The bear suddenly stopped whimpering and feel down lifelessly unto the floor. Her evil side stopped the use of her powers and disappeared into thing air causing her to come back to normal and facing with great force unto the floor. 

"I don't want this! I don't want this" Helia said to herself sobbing as she dragged herself to the bear. "I killed the bear. I killed it...i didn't want to…" 

"This can still be controlled if you will listen to me" She heard Mr Drax voice say in a distance. She immediately stared back and rushed to the old man giving him a big hug.

"I am so sorry for not beliving you Mr Drax. This power is really crazy. It's taking control of me" 

"I told you it would because you aren't connected to it. For now, it's  like two sides of you trying to balance out. You have to accept your powers and stop fighting it. If you had a long time ago, your powers won't be using itself" He had explained. 

"I will listen to whatever you say now sir. Just tell me what to do. How do i end this? How do i return this back?"

"You can only do that if you defeat the Golden queen but for now there are some few purple markings on the map which could be of help. Those purple markings are important places that could help you with the connection to your inner demon. This priests can help you balance out the bridge between your powers and yourself" 

"Ok Mr Drax. How do i begin?" 

"You are injured and you look weak. Come on, let me clean your wound and take you home. I will tell you all you need to do on the way" He had responded helping her up. She weakly nodded. 

***

Helia had her backpack packed when her mum wasn't home. She ensured she took as few things as she could as possible because she wasn't sure of how this journey could be. She hadn't travelled out of town before so she wasn't sure of what the outside border would be like. She packed her family photo frame, her small compass, her dad's old watch, her little hair net, her pepper spray, a little package of pastries and some apples, some clothes to change in and extra foot wear. As soon as she was done putting in the items she felt would be needful to her, she had hid the bag under her pillow and began thinking of who to meet to join her in this crazy adventure. Perhaps Jack. Jack loved crazy ideas like this. He had also travelled a lot with his uncle too so he knew how to read maps and use compasses pretty well. Jack was an amazing option. She then thought of Jackie. There was no way Jackie would agree to go with her. She wouldn't let Jack. This was going to be more difficult than it seemed. Perhaps Jack's approval was enough. He wasn't a child anymore. Walking into their yard, she arrived to their porch and knocked slowly on the door. Luckily it was Jack who opened. He seemed to be busy with something. She wasn't entirely sure what he was doing. 

"I was just rounding off an article for Paris. I write for a magazine company over there" He had said as he said in front of his study desk. 

"You never told me you write. What are you writing about?" 

"The unknown species of this world. The things that are claimed to be fantasies but they are not. They are real just like elves for example. Elves are claimed to be folktales but people have seen them with their two eyes. Real elves'' 

"It's in the nature of humans to believe what they see and not what they are told" 

"But we can try to convince them that a thing they are ignoring is out there watching them. I know it's crazy but I have tried investigating this barred legend story stuff everyone keeps ignoring. It's about a golden queen and her son. Can you believe that? This story is linked to your father…"

"I know everything. Mr Drax told me " Helia had caught him short with a smile. At least he had a clue which made her work easier. 

"He is out there Helia. It's just that no one knows where" 

"I understand. Mr Drax claimed i have some powers which could help defeat the golden queen and bring my dad back"

"The crazy man told you?"

"He isn't crazy. He is right. I fought this bear…"  Jack stopped what he was writing and stared at her in concern. 

"Are you okay? Do you need help? Helia, show me a sign if you need help" He said immediately. 

"No. I am fine. You have to believe me. I just want to help my father" 

"How exactly do you wish to save your father? With the stories Drax told you...the fake power"

"I have no fake power. You have to believe me Jack" 

" I don't believe you" He said turning back to his work. 

"Jack please…"

"If you really do have powers then show me. Do something with it, then i will believe you"

"I have no control over it. I can't use it" Helia tried explaining but Jack scoffs. 

"Sure. You can't" 

Helia felt hurt at this. He wasn't believing her. How was she to convince him now? 

"If you won't believe others' mysterious experiences then how do you expect other people to believe your elf stories or alien encounters or all that mythical stuff…"

"What do you mean?"

"You don't believe me because you haven't seen me use it but you get offended if others don't believe the articles you write because they hadn't faced the same experience themselves. How is that fair?" 

"Helia, you are talking about powers. Power is no joke Helia" 

"I swear I have it. I do have powers. You have to believe me, ``she pleaded. He sighed. 

"Fine, I believe you. What do we do now? What's your plan?" 

"I am setting off in two days. I have the map with me. Since you're good with directions and maps I felt we could go together. You're a good traveller too" 

"Well I don't know Helia…"

"Do not change your mind now. You have to go with me"

"The maps….it's so much work"

"So you won't help me"

"I will. I promise to buy the maps…"

"Fine then. It's settled. Please do not inform your sister about this. She didn't want me to tell you about this"

"It's fine. She was asleep when you came in. I am sure she heard nothing" Jack assured her. Helia smiled with a big relief. This was going better than expected. Now she will need some weapons. Unfortunately she had no idea Jackie was eavesdropping from the corridor. The young lady clenched her fist in anger and walked back into her room fuming. 

***

"What could you be doing in the old blacksmith shop Helia?" Mr Joe asked as he caught sight of her walk in. 

"I need a good sword. A very sharp one" She requested with a smile. 

"A sword?" The man asked with surprise. "What could an 18 year old lady be doing with a sword?' 

"It's for an uncle. He told me to buy it for him" She lied with a smile. 

"Women aren't to hold weapons except you are part of the knights. Is your uncle a part of the night?" He had asked. 

"He is just a soldier. He needs it for his parade tomorrow" 

"Fine. That will cost 4 silver coins"  the man responded giving her the packaged sword. She smiled and paid him happily before walking out. That was a close one. She'd know she had lied and she hated lying but she had no other choice. She had to find a way to get herself prepared for this mission.