The Hunt for the Royal Runaway

THE 607TH ROYAL PROPHECY, PRESENT ERA: -EXCERPT FROM THE BOOK OF CHOKHMAH- Once there was a place where magical stones and earth elements unite harmoniously. With the strong rhythmic force binding them together, a home for enchanters is born—the Stoneheart Kingdom. The kingdom is divided into 4 powerful realms. Opal is the home of the earth element and Ruby houses the fire element. While the wind element resides in Topaz, Aquamarine preserves the water element. Thanks to the four realms, the 8 Royal Houses are fuelled. House Sapphire holds earth-fire powers, House Emerald controls wind-water powers, House Amethyst govern wind-fire powers, House Garnet manipulates earth-wind powers, House Alexandrite commands fire-water powers and House Peridot enjoys earth-water powers. Out of all of the royalties, House Diamond is said to be the most powerful as it possesses the combination of all powers.  The heavens have blessed the kingdom with the next ruler born of the blue blood; a free-spirited maiden with a strong heart. By the rise of the 800th dawn of the era, she will tremble the Stoneheart's core and challenge the greedy, the hateful, and the envious. She will be the most powerful chosen one the world will ever see. She will slay enemies that have never seen the light of day before and make the beasts cower in fear of light. And by the 800th dusk's appearance, she will reside with the gods while possessing the brightest heart, the purest soul, and the most indescribable wisdom she will cast upon the world that it will never suffer from darkness again as long as she reigns.  From House Diamond, the next queen is expected to rise.  -- “I told you, we should have never let her in here…what will the other Houses say to us now, huh?” “Isn’t our daughter’s sake should be the one in your mind now instead of their damn opinions? Well, to answer your question, I don’t f*****g care about them!” The voices that echoes along the hallway grew louder and clearer the more I approach their quarters. They’re fighting about me again. They’ve been doing so ever since I started summoning transparent magic last week. But today, it’s for another reason, I think. “You’re ridiculous! May I just remind you, dear husband, you are the f*****g king of this kingdom! You can’t just sweep information you don’t like under the rug and pretend that they don’t exist.” “I’m not sweeping anything under the rug for god’s sake, Leah! I just don’t want to announce it to the kingdom just yet…after all, we just got her prophecy, didn’t we? Let me think this through!” “No you won’t! You’re just saying that until the everything withered under our noses again, until you’re numb enough to ignore it. You can’t escape the prophecy, Stephen…you know that.” “I know. But I’m still not letting her go. There must be a way out of this…there’s always a way out of everything.” I’ll apologize if they want me to. This is my fault, I should’ve never tried summoning my magic. Maybe I’m too weak for them. I should have just waited for the exact ti— “Akisha? What are you doing here?” Oops. I didn’t know their door was too light to push. My hands immediately tremble by the time I met with my mother’s fiery eyes, ignoring my father’s call for worry and the way his wide palms pressed on top of my head to block my view. “I’m so sorry mother, I didn’t mean to eavesdrop. I was just playing and I…it was an acci—“ “How long have you been listening? How much have you heard?” She stormed towards me angrily but she was quickly blocked by my father’s outstretched arm. Although he succeeded in preventing my mother to land an angry slap over my frail body, he couldn’t stop her anger from reaching me. With shaking lips and teary eyes, I clutched the edge of my father’s cape while hiding behind his firm legs. My heart is beating so fast that I feel like I’m going to pass out any second. How can I tell her that I didn’t hear anything? How can I convince her that I wasn’t able to understand whatever they’re talking about? “I’m s-sorry mother, please f-forgive me…” I mumbled with the most courage I could get, burying my wet face onto my father’s red cape. They didn’t seem to hear my voice though. With their loud banters and aggressive exchange of foul words, my voice is just a whisper in the background. “Stop being so mean to our daughter, what the hell is wrong with you?” “Now that she knows her future, the chance of her acting accordingly is higher! Don’t take away my right of disciplining her! Akisha, come here!” Mommy? Daddy? What are you talking about? I shook my head in confusion, overwhelmed by intense fear as I sensed both their magic swell around the heavy atmosphere of the room. Hearing their words spill here and there, the master’s suite in the palace, the one room that is supposed to be the biggest, felt suddenly small. “Leah! Calm down! She said she didn’t mean to barge in!” “Her fate will destroy us all! Why can’t you f*****g see that?!” In the middle of their heated conversation, my father tried his best to defend me, using his body as a shield to guard against my mother who continues reaching down to where I stand…she is desperate  to get a hold of anything from me. My pink dress, my brown hair, or my tiny hands…anything. “D-daddy!” I cried so hard when he stumbled from behind, pushing my body to the ground accidentally. I can’t take it anymore. I’m scared, I’m so scared of them! Quickly, I lifted the edge of my dress up and picked myself from falling. And without looking back, I decided to run and trust where these tiny feet would bring me. “Akisha! No, wait!” “Where are you going, you little rat! Come back here!” I hurried down the halls to the stairs leading to where my room is located so I can finally hide from them. And if they want it, I can stay here forever, away from their sight. -- An itching sensation invaded the back of my eyelids by the time I felt myself wake up. Huh? How long has I been passed out? And since when did I change to night dress instead of wearing my favourite pink one? I bolted up my bed and immediately lit up the lamp beside me. As I turned to look over the window a few steps to the right away from my bed, the moon peeped fully to greet me with a silent ‘hello’.  I see, it’s already night time. I looked around even more, from the tall, rosy ceiling to my huge cream closet to look for anything as I regain control over my disoriented mind. Sometimes I feel like my room is too big for me, especially on nights like this, when I wake up from a bad dream and realizing no one will be there to calm me down. “You’ve been sleeping for five hours now, my princess.” A familiar voice suddenly crept out of the darkness of my room while a figure that I least expected to appear slowly walked towards me from the corner near the door. Startled, I look over the origin of the voice just to make sure I wasn’t dreaming and am already wide awake. “Daddy!” I squealed, rushing my small body to nuzzle on his chest while she petted my messy hair and I seek for his temporary comfort. “Hmmm, Lady Lana did a good job in keeping you asleep while she changed your clothes, I see.”  He replied, embracing me tightly before letting go and tilting my chin up. He sat at the edge of my bed, still wearing his cape and crown. A sign that he wasn’t done with work yet and he’s just making time to see me before leaving again. “Your mother and I are sorry for what happened earlier, Akisha. You shouldn’t have seen us argue.” He said, searching for my eyes while I stare blankly at his. Ah, I almost forgot what he’s talking about. “Daddy, why is mommy always angry at me? Am I bad?” I looked down to try and hide the pain that enveloped my heart again. My lips are starting to quake at the feeling and my vision blurring because of the threatening tears. When my father patted my head, the walls finally crumbled down. The next thing I knew, I was sobbing non-stop. “No you’re not. But…there’s a chance that you will be. Your mother is angry at your future, not you.” He uttered, lifting me effortlessly and placing me in his lap. I quickly buried my face in his chest. “I…I don’t understand father. I’m doing my best to be a good girl everyday.” I argued in between heavy sobs, feeling that if one more word fell from my mouth, I wouldn’t be able to speak anymore. “I know, my daughter. I know. But I don’t want to lie to you that is why I am telling you this.” He responded. When only silence was heard around, he continued speaking that my small brain could not comprehend well. “You see, you are a special enchanter, a rare blood even among royalties. And because of that, you have a prophecy in you…a bad one.” A deep sigh escaped his chest and I could only tuck myself deeper in his chest in nervousness. “H-how?” I asked. “You’ll be the most powerful enchanter in the Stoneheart kingdom, so much so that you are destined to end everything, including our lives.” He said with a sad smile, looking down as my weary eyes met his troubled ones. My father gently wiped the tears away from my eyes when he saw that my nose is already swollen from crying. “I will not be bad! I promise! I don’t even know how to control my magic. I feel it’s actually weak, father. Believe me. I can barely feel it in my body.” I reasoned, standing over the bed to convince him. He instructed me to calm down and sit again, in which I did without protest. “It’s because we aren’t allowing you to develop your magic. It’s dormant.” “Then I won’t ever use it! Ever!” My father let out a soft chuckle in return, shaking his head at the ridiculousness of my response. It’s as if he’s thinking that I’m crazy. Maybe I am. There’s no enchanter in the whole kingdom that could survive a day without using their magic…not even the royalties, not even a weak child like me. But instead of retorting a joke or encouraging me like he always do, he decided to divert the topic of our conversation “Do you promise to be good forever?” “Mhmmm! Promise!” “Do you promise to attend your daily lectures on time?” “Yes! Even if Lady Lana is boring sometimes.” I huffed at my half-honest promise, making my father laugh a little. “Will you forgive me from what I am about to do?” I froze. What is he talking about now? He’s scaring me. “H-huh?” “Come here, I won’t do you harm.” My father encouraged before stretching out his arms and inviting me in. Slowly, my tensed shoulder relaxes as I regained my trust in him again. In no time, I crawled where he pulls me, strong hands securing my body in place…the way I couldn’t look straight into his eyes. This action is too familiar. “Father, can’t you sleep with me tonight? I’m scared of the ghosts.” I pleaded, staring at my pink walls instead of his eyes. “I’m afraid I still have work to do.” He said, slowly bidding goodbye. As I my gazes travelled along the surface of the blank wall, I felt something vibrate in his chest. When I squirmed to move away, he tucked me in even more. “Can we play tomorrow then? In the garden?” “I can’t do that too.” My heart is starting to break. The vibration suddenly intensified. “When can I see you again then?” I asked, weary of the disappointment that is about to come. “Seldom. Never, perhaps.” He answered with a sad smile for the second time. I parted my lips to protest but his wide hands cupped my cheek first, caging my small round face in between a solid hold. “I’m sorry Akisha. I need you to forget everything you heard and saw today.” He stated seriously before he angled his face down and kissed the center of my cheek. Before I could even respond, a bright light suddenly emerged between us until I can only see nothing but a blinding illumination. This is his magic! I recognized the warmth of the light, the one that is able to manipulate enchanters mind as long as they will obey my father’s words. I was told in one of my history classes with Lady Lana that my father’s magic is one of the most powerful to exist and feeble minds won’t survive when they came across to challenge it. I never knew that I will encounter it myself. “Father! Father! What is happening? What are you doing?” I screamed in panic, hoping that he would save me again just like how he did back with my mother. But with one word, he managed to invade my consciousness without making himself appear. Shivers travelled down my spine as I listened to him. Heat poured from my gut up my head until I felt an aching sensation that almost makes my brain wants to burst. “This is goodbye, Akisha. May you have the courage to face your fate head-on and find the future that you deserve, the one we failed to give you."